Bourda Cricket Ground-once the iconic home of cricket in Guyana
Shivnarine Chanderpaul hammers one through the off-side during his Debut at Bourda during the England vs West Indies Wisden Trophy Match of 1994
Shivnarine Chanderpaul hammers one through the off-side during his Debut at Bourda during the England vs West Indies Wisden Trophy Match of 1994

THE Bourda Oval at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground (GCC); once the iconic home of cricket in Guyana for close to 75 years is synonymous to names like Guyanese Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Barbadians Sir Garfield Sobers and Wes Hall and other world players, and at one time, the heart of Caribbean entertainment.The Bourda ground; where the West Indies devastated England by 289 runs in the venue’s first Test match from February 21-26, 1930 and levelled their 4 match series 1-1.

A part of the Test match between the West Indies and New Zealand at Bourda
A part of the Test match between the West Indies and New Zealand at Bourda

Regarded as the oldest ground in the Caribbean after coming to light sometime in 1884, the Bourda Green (commonly called the Bourda Oval) is found between Regent Street and North Road.
With a seating capacity of close to 20,000 in its prime, the Bourda Oval has a rich heritage boasting some 30 test matches and 10 one-day internationals in addition to numerous other first class games.
A current member of the facility and club servant Jailall Ramnauth, who has been there for close to three decades, described some of his fondest memories there.
“I could always remember the match between Pakistan and West Indies, when they had over 20 000 people in the ground and people were all around the boundaries, they had a little thing (incident) at the end of the game because when the last ball was bowled the spectators ran for the ball before the fielder went for it.”
He says his major hope is that memories like the great Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar sharing a light moment, or Shivnarine Chanderpaul iconic half-century that saved the West Indies Wisden Trophy Match against England in 1994 will be preserved in those halls.
Meanwhile, Cricket statistician and Television personality Edwin Seeraj recounted a brief history of the illustrious venue.
“In the early 1960’s 1962-64 some test matches that would have been played here had to be shifted to other grounds in the West Indies because of the political instability at the time then you had 1976 torrential rains before the start of West Indies versus India test and that shifted to Trinidad that famous test in 1976 when Clive Lloyd declared and gave India more than 400 runs to win, so Bourda is rich.”

the last match at Bourda was almost washed out. However, the GDF helicopter saved the day and dried the field
the last match at Bourda was almost washed out. However, the GDF helicopter saved the day and dried the field

He continued, “Some famous players played here. If you go back to the very first Test match 1930 incidentally that was the First Test Match victory for the West Indies led by a Guyanese by the name of Maurius `Pacheco’ Fernandes who played for the Demerara Cricket Club, he had played one Test match before, that was the inaugural Test match West Indies versus England at Lord’s in 1928, so this was the second Test and he was the captain because in those days wherever you played the captain would come from that territory and he led West Indies to a resounding victory.”
He flashed back to players like Alvin Kallicharran scoring a hundred on debut here in 1972 against New Zealand, you had Glen Turner making 259 which is the highest score at Bourda and before that you had Rohan Kanhai in 1968 who was the first Guyanese to score a century at Bourda.
He added that there were people like Sir Garfield Sobers as well as Lance Gibbs who loved the Bourda Oval.
Incidentally, the Regent Road ground is where Clive Lloyd in 1973 announced himself to the world with a masterful 173 that would bear fruit to a prosperous run and lead to his ascension to the top of West Indies Cricket and one of the greatest captains of the game.
That little Bourda Ground
The year 2005 would be the last year Test cricket was played at Bourda cricket ground and the country’s very own hero Chanderpaul would make that match a significant one.
“The Test cricket, the crowd around the world, not just in the West Indies, were waning and then we ended up here in 2005 with South Africa and even that test match against South Africa Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the captain because they had some senior players who had some dispute with the Board, and he created history here too by scoring a double hundred in his first match as captain and only one time in the history of test cricket that was ever.”
Sitting eight acres of abandoned sugar cane fields owned by Frenchman Joseph, the Illustrious Bourda was constructed by colonial authorities for sports activities.
It was later opened on December 26, 1885 (Boxing Day) with a match between West Indies and the World, which the West Indies won by two wickets.

 

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