GUYANA Cricket Board (GCB) president, Bissoondyal Singh, is highly optimistic that Guyana will host matches for the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup Tournament.

A team of officials representing the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) visited Guyana over the past weekend to inspect venues ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022.

Guyana, through Minister of Sports, Charles Ramson, had submitted a bid to host the initial stage of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. The venue inspection was aimed at determining Guyana’s readiness for this major international event.

The ICC team included a number of planning experts in Ben Leaver, Joanna Taylor, Andy Atkinson, Ruchika Rana, Hamish Roberts and Roberto Almansa. The CWI representatives were Tournament Director, Fawwaz Baksh; Event Manager KJ Singh, Head Curator Kent Crafton, and representatives Krystal Jean-Baptiste and Marcus Francis.

The aforementioned were joined by GCB’s officials: Hon. Secretary, Ronald Williams; Chief Executive Officer/Public Relations Officer, Claude Raphael; Assistant Secretary, Devteerth Anandjit; Technocrat on Marketing and Financing, Anil Beharry; and Territorial Development Officer, Colin Stuart. Experienced Venue Manager Sabrina Panday was also present.

On Saturday, September 4, 2021 the team visited the Guyana National Stadium, Providence; the GCB’s LBI Facility; Malteenoes Sports Club, Guyana Defence Force ground and Enmore Community Centre. Similar inspections were conducted on Sunday, September 5, 2021 at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), Everest Cricket Club and Police Sports Club.

The GCB boss has expressed his satisfaction with the visit, positing that the ICC/CWI team was very professional in their approach. He opined that the forthcoming report on the inspection will indicate what standards were met and what measures needed to be undertaken.

Singh was also pleased that the ICC and CWI representatives were able to meet with Hon. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson.

Further, the GCB president expressed confidence that the GCB, with the invaluable support of Hon. Minister Charles Ramson and the Government of Guyana, will ensure that all venues assigned to the tournament will meet the ICC standards by mid-November 2021, when another inspection is expected.