MELBOURNE: Cricket's global chief Saturday admitted some venues were not yet ready for the World Cup in South Asia but vowed there would be no repeat of chaos that marred the build-up to the Commonwealth Games.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat said four stadiums in particular were "slightly behind" in their preparations for the tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, starting next month.
He was speaking after reports of chaotic scenes at Eden Gardens in Kolkata and at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium.
"The concern with Delhi was more than a year ago with the state of the pitch but that has been sorted out," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"There are certain stadia that our behind our schedule," he added, highlighting Kolkata and Mumbai.
"We would have liked them to have been completed. All of our reports do not indicate anything like what transpired during the Commonwealth Games.
"The stadiums are slightly behind, there are four in particular I think, but they?ll be done before the start of the World Cup."
Sri Lanka has pledged that two new stadiums in Kandy and Hambantota will be ready on time, while Bangladesh has promised to deliver "world-class" facilities.
"We'll ensure power supplies at the venues are uninterrupted, floodlights work and that the pitches are of the highest standard," Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus said this month.
Shambolic preparations for New Delhi's Commonwealth Games in October caused international concern and prompted some athletes to pull out, in a deeply embarrassing incident for emerging India.
Lorgat also said he was happy with progress against spot-fixing after a tribunal last week delayed a decision over allegations against Pakistan's Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Amir.
"I am pleased with the progress we have made. It is short space of time, it is a complex matter and it is running alongside a criminal investigation," he said.
"I believe we have done very well to get to this position with a six-day tribunal that has sat and now we await a judgment."
The trio face charges of spot-fixing during Pakistan's tour of England last year in a scandal that rocked the sport.
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