CABINET has encouraged Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony to continue his engagement with International Cricket Council (ICC) officials about the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup tournament.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr Roger Luncheon, said this happened after the timetabling of the games and the assignment of teams that Guyana would host were disclosed at Cabinet.

He told his weekly briefing yesterday, at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, that Anthony provided Cabinet with the ICC decisions communicated to Guyana, indicating that matches in this country would showcase the English, Sri Lankan, Zimbabwean and the Bangladeshi teams.

Minister Anthony also disclosed that the ICC had scheduled Guyana to host the opening ceremony for the tournament and he was urged to take the views of Cabinet on those developments to the ICC, Luncheon said.

Asked if the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is no longer playing a role in bringing international cricket and organising it in Guyana because it has been discussed at Cabinet level, he replied: “The forum of Cabinet really needs no justification.”

“It is Guyana that is hosting. Although the instrument may very well be the cricket board of control, stakeholders who form some secretariat as the host, the fact of the matter is it is the Government that is involved in financing the presence of the cricketing teams,” Luncheon explained.

He added: “When it involves public expenditure, access to the resources of the State and the security agencies it has to come to Cabinet.”