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The $70 million Central Broward Regional Park was purpose-built for cricket when it first opened, in 2008. It was US crickets crown jewel, an oasis in a land starved of turf-pitch stadium facilities.Before long, though, the venue took the shape of a white elephant, in the words of a hit piece in the areas major newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. After it hosted only two revenue-generating cricket events featuring Full Members in its first seven years, restlessness from Broward County management understandably set in, and as a result the facility has begun creeping towards repurposing itself for other sporting tenants, chiefly soccer.At the entrance to the park there are signs hawking sign-ups for FCB Escola, the summer soccer school run by FC Barcelona that has been the chief provider of rental revenue at the stadium for the last several years. Inside the pavilion there are no posters of cricketing icons who have graced the CBRP but framed images of Messi, Neymar, Iniesta and Suarez.Most recently the second-division soccer franchise Fort Lauderdale Strikers announced their relocation from Lockhart Stadium on the north side of Fort Lauderdale to the CBRP, which offers them a more central and upgraded location. They are the main tenant at the ground now. The cricket square was dug up in 2013 and moved 20 yards north to accommodate soccer, not the other way around. All signs point to the realisation that cricket is no longer what the facility is for.Much work had to be done on the pitch and outfield just to get it in shape to host cricket matches for the CPL this weekend. Auckland-based pitch consultant Mark Perham was brought in from Auckland to oversee the preparation of the pitch. A weed-filled outfield also needed to be worked on significantly after recent soccer use to get it back to looking green and clean.This weekend is an opportunity to show fans the CBRP has not been lost to soccer. CPL organisers have made it known that they want to play at the venue every year, and it will take a regular commitment such as that to deter a complete repurposing of the facility for soccer. CPL chief executive Damien ODonohoe has made it perfectly clear, though, that he wants a series of sell-out crowds to make return visits worthwhile.CPL administrators are also confident that the product theyre putting out will be better than that offered by last years Cricket All-Stars roadshow. The cheapest ticket in Lauderhill can be bought for US$23, with two-thirds of tickets priced at $30 or less. The cheapest Cricket All-Stars ticket was $50, though more than 75% of seats were priced at $100 or higher. Tom Moody, the CPLs international director of cricket, says not only is the event more affordable than the All-Stars, but it will be a better product.With all due respect to the Masters competition, youre really looking down memory lane and enjoying the spectacle but from a different position in the seat, Moody said. Youre sitting back and admiring some of the greats of the game that have played over the last couple of decades.You see one form where youre looking back and admiring some past greats in a different generation, played in a different gear. Over the next few days youre going to see the game played thats current, with the best players in the world, playing in overdrive. From an entertainment standpoint, youll be on the edge of your seat for the next week.Whether or not fans hold up their end of the bargain is to be determined. The overwhelming majority of ticket sales online have been purchased by out-of-towners. A ticket sales manager at the main Florida CPL box-office location at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center said a week out from the event that the word was about 100 walk-up tickets were sold in the month and a half since tickets went on sale.Yet there was more success achieved at other satellite sales locations, where tickets were offered by local West Indian expat merchants. Sheila Sawh Gowkaran, owner of Joys Roti Delight - a cult restaurant located across the street from the stadium - said she sold out of her batch of 500 tickets more than two weeks ago. I could have sold 1000 if they gave me that many, Gowkaran said.In terms of local competition from other sports, Miami Marlins are home at the moment and commence with a four-game series against St Louis Cardinals, which directly clashes with the CPL start times. However, CPL chairman Richard Bevan doesnt feel theyll be affected by traffic that could have gone to the CPL games had Marlins been away.I think were only in competition with ourselves in terms of putting on the very best product and making sure the cricket in Florida is played lighter and better, Bevan said. Well communicate that to a world audience over the next few days. Pulling out all the stops, Tridents part-owner Mark Wahlberg tweeted his support for the event, encouraging people to show up in Lauderhill.Barring a dramatic surge in walk-up sales, the expectation is that Thursday nights curtain-raiser may be played in front of a half-full stadium, which may be a disappointment to ODonohoe. The crowd is expected to be better on Friday night, while Saturday and Sunday are projected to be sold out, with few tickets remaining for both days. Time will tell if better success at the gate on the weekend double-header days outweighs less than optimal attendances at the start.The last obstacle is the temperamental Florida weather in the summertime, which is also tropical storm season. The weekend prior to the CPL saw heavy rains each day. Some training sessions for the early-arriving teams were cancelled. However, since Monday there has been glorious sunshine every day. Organisers have their fingers crossed the rain will hold off through the weekend, and the current forecast is for good weather on the first three days, with only Sunday in some doubt.If the scene in Lauderhill is anything like the last visit made by West Indies in 2012, the atmosphere should be thriving. Instead of having to wait four more years, good support in Lauderhill for the CPL might not only encourage the league to come back next year, but a visit by India and West Indies could be in store even sooner. Drew Bledsoe Jersey . 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Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Matthew Slater Jersey . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BCBs chief executive, has categorically rejected any talk of playing England at a neutral venue should they pull out of their scheduled tour of Bangladesh in October. Eoin Morgan, Englands limited-overs captain, said last week that neutral venues may be feasible if it came to that after the Gulshan attacks in Dhaka on July 1.We always believe this is never a solution, Chowdhury said. Cricket cannot stop in a country. We will make our best effort to fulfill the FTP commitment. The cricket operations of both BCB and ECB are in continuous communication regarding the England tour of Bangladesh in October. They are in discussion with the tour related matters, especially the logistics.Chowdhury said that the ECBs security visit will be held in the coming months. The security visit is a standard practice. Teams like England, Australia do this regularly. A security delegate from England was supposed to come last month, but as they have tour of India after Bangladesh, I think they will do the security inspection of the two countries together. We will get to know when they get confirmation from the two boards.Bangladesh has never needed to host a billateral series in a neutral venue, but Australia postponed their 2015 tour and pulled out of the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year due to their governments advice on security matters.ddddddddddddChowdhury said the ICC were to issue guidelines on security issues, but is banking on Bangladeshs track record of hosting major events despite volatile times in the country. In 2014, the BCB managed to host three high-profile international tournaments mere weeks after election-related violence had subsided. After Australias twin pull out, there was much concern about the Under-19 World Cup, but it was held in four cities in the country.The security issue has already been discussed at different levels in the ICC. There have been discussions on security protocol. A guideline will soon be given from the ICC, he said. We have very good track record of hosting successful international events with the support from the government and the law enforcement departments. We believe to get the same support in future for hosting cricket in the country. ' ' '