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Bermuda could host one-day-internationals between the West Indies and top Test playing nations within the next few years, says Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney.

The minister insisted that getting the National Sports Centre accredited as a venue capable of hosting top international cricket was still a 'high priority'.

And his ambition is for Bermuda to host 'money-spinning' matches between the West Indies and top Test nations like Australia and England.

He said improvements to the infrastructure of the national sports centre combined with the establishment of an accommodation facility for visiting teams, planned for Southside, would also make it possible for touring Test nations to visit Bermuda en-route to the West Indies, as they used to do in the early 1990s.

India, Australia and England all came Bermuda after their tours to the Caribbean.

And former India captain Rahul Dravid told the Bermuda Sun during the 2007 World Cup that his side would relish the opportunity to come back here - if the facilities were in place.

Blakeney said improvements to the pitch over the summer which enabled Bermuda to host four-day Intercontinental Cup matches had meant that the quality of the wicket - for so long the major stumbling block to hosting internationals in Bermuda - was fast becoming a 'non issue'.

But modifications need to be made to the pavilion, the changing rooms and some of the other supporting infrastructure before full ODIs can be held here.

He said the cost of the adjustments would not be prohibitively expensive and insisted that, despite projected hard economic times ahead for sports in Bermuda, it would be worth the money.

"I see a potential revenue stream there for international commitments that do not only involve Bermuda but visiting teams to the West Indies.

"They could come here for warm-up games or I could even see games between the West Indies and England, Australia or Pakistan being held here.

"Judging by the number of people from Bermuda that go down to the Caribbean to watch cricket we could expect big crowds at the National Stadium for that."

The island had been slated to host World Cup warm-up matches when the West Indies hosted the competition in 2007 but had to pull out because the stadium was not ready.

But Blakeney believes the ingredients are there for Bermuda to be a venue for similar tournaments in the future.

He said he was liaising with the ICC and Bermuda Cricket Board to establish exactly what needed to be done to make it happen.[[In-content Ad]]

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