THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and Shivnauth Construction Company signed a $49.4 million contract yesterday at the GCB boardroom for the construction of the cricket hostel and training facility at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara.
Secretary of the GCB, Anand Senassie, and Brijpaul Shivnauth penned the contract to have the facility built in five months.
Media operatives were also informed that 30% of the finance was committed to at the signing of the contract while 40% was agreed at the evaluation of the superstructure phase and 30% at the evaluation of the final phase and handing-over.
According to Senassie, the entire structure will be of concrete with synthetic turfs for training as is the case in sister Caribbean nation Trinidad & Tobago. He noted that the training area will have the capacity for four practice pitches but it will be divided to accommodate two surfaces.
The hostel, on the other hand, will be able to house two teams and officials when there are tournaments that include out-of-town teams.
Meanwhile, the GCB informed media operatives of its plans for development and tournaments that Guyana will be hosting. President of the GCB, Chetram Singh, reported that after an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) two weeks ago the executives of the board have decided that they will be pushing the envelope of development.
For starters, the GCB shelved the idea of selecting 42 of the countries’ best players because Essequibo was not competitive as a county.
The GCB has taken the stance to reintroduce the senior inter-county tournament, after great consternation from the media and other interested stakeholders, but has added an Under-19 team to contend.
Singh stated that the teams will play six games each and a team will be selected for the regional limited overs tournament in late October. Guyana will be hosting the tournament the tournament for the second straight year.
The GCB has also collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission to coordinate a cricket academy from July 13 to August 7. Twenty-five cricketers, including 20 under-15 cricketers, will benefit from the programme that will touch on a range of issues.
During this time the GCB will focus on running off its Twenty20 schedule with the vision of selecting a national team to compete the GCB Twenty20 Cricket Festival from August 21 to 22. Guyana, Guyana/America, Barbados and T&T will be competing for US$15 000.
During August 8-15 the GCB plans to run off its eight-team 20/20 tourney to select the national team. Corentyne, Canje/New Amsterdam, West Coast Berbice, East Coast Demerara, two teams from Georgetown, East Bank/West Coast Demerara and Essequibo are the teams that will be competing.
On the other hand, Public Relations Officer of the GCB, Terry Holder, reiterated that the GCB is the “guardian of the national game in Guyana and the board has the right to protect the integrity of the game”. This remark followed the discussion of private citizens hosting 20/20 matches for profit and cricket at the end of the day suffering.
The GCB has taken a stance that it will not be sanctioning such activities and that they will be discouraging players from playing in these tournaments. He also made reference to the rogue league in India, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), to emphasise his point.
Finally the GCB has also integrated women’s cricket into its developmental mandate. The Senior Female Inter-County 50-over competition begins on July 20 whilst Guyana will also be hosting the WICB Regional Tournament August 13-24.
