… Minister Anthony urges cricketers to maximise on it
THE long-awaited Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence Hostel was formally opened on Wednesday afternoon at the La Bonne Intention (LBI) ground, East Coast Demerara. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony, before his declaration of the facility, urged cricketers to maximise on the accommodation.
The multi-million dollar structure began last year, and was completed on schedule.  The hostel will be used now by the GCB to house cricketers for annual inter-county cricket competitions and encampments prior to regional tournament.
“I want the GCB to make full use of this wonderful facility, and this is a dream come true under the leadership of president of GCB, Chetram Singh, and excellent support from Guysuco,” Anthony declared.     
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud was also in attendance and gave a few remarks about the splendid job done by the GCB to accomplish this feat. He congratulated them.
Singh also stated that it was an extremely challenging task to get this building up, and it took years of planning for GCB to achieve its own facility, which includes indoor equipment, because of financial constraints.
He was grateful to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for its support after the completion of the 2007 International Cricket Council 50-over world, where the WICB attracted massive revenues.
He reckoned that this building will immensely ease the burden of rental expenses. Players from Berbice and Essequibo at various levels for inter-county competitions have been accommodated at different guest houses and hotels when in the capital city to face Demerara or involved in trial games.
In addition to the facilities for the accommodation of teams preparing for local and regional tournaments, the Centre comprises indoor nets, a gym, a lecture room and full-sized ground, all designed to turn out more rounded players prepared for the challenges of the modern game.