Sports Minister disappointed with Twenty20 schedule

Jul 08, 2009 Sports

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“We knew what games were set for Guyana from the media” – GCB

The off-the-field controversies of West Indies cricket are once again overshadowing the game itself and this time the Guyana Government and its country’s cricket board are up in arms against the match scheduling for next year’s World 20/20 competition.

Sports Minister Dr Frank Anthony yesterday expressed disappointment at not only the matches slated for Guyana, but the manner in which the schedule was announced.

Tournament Director, St Lucian Ernest Hillaire had indicated that coming up with a schedule was the most difficult thing he had to do, when he met the Guyana media last week along with the ICC venue assessment team which passed Guyana as an excellent venue.

“We were given the impression that we would have gotten 10 matches including a Super Eight game after being initially told that we would be hosting a semi-final. The ICC delegation met with me in Guyana up to last week and when I asked about the match schedule they evaded the issue,” Dr Anthony told the media at the Sports Ministry.

Anthony, the head of Guyana’s delegation which attended the initial meeting in St Lucia after this country had won its bid to be one of three countries to stage matches in the men’s tournament, said he was shocked that he had to be informed via the media about Guyana’s matches and disclosed that he has e-mailed his concerns to Hillaire.

Hillaire had said that unlike the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Government would have very little say in the running of the competition, with the regional cricket boards of the match venues working in a similar fashion to when bilateral home series are played in the region.

“The Guyana Government was a key player when we made the bid to host matches and I feel that at least the partners should have been informed about the match schedule before it appeared in the press. We were led to believe that we would be getting 10 matches and what is shocking to me is that leading up to last Saturday’s launching we did not receive any match schedule,” Dr Anthony stated.

It was explained at last week’s media briefing in Guyana that the ICC would be standing the cost of the entire tournament and would even pay for ‘add-ons’ at the match venue if they wanted improvements.

Dr Anthony said that while the ICC has a 4-member staff in Guyana, there is a large volunteer workforce here which is working without pay, because they want Guyana’s leg to be properly run.

The Minister said Guyana has already commenced preparations for the event. “For us to be informed at the launching ceremony and the media that we will now only have 6 matches is unfair to us.

“I am at a loss as to why our matches have been reduced from what we were originally told since the drainage of our ground is among the best in the world, we have experience in hosting such events after the last World Cup here and because of the low ticket prices our stadium would be full,” Dr Anthony said.

Acting President of the Guyana Cricket Board Bissoon Singh said he almost fell out of his chair in shock when he saw on the big screen at the launching in St Lucia that Guyana had only gotten six matches and not a single Super Eight game.

“As a major stakeholder it is amazing that we (GCB) were not a part of the scheduling process or were not informed about the matches before the launching,” Singh lamented.

Dr Anthony said that while the ICC has their team working, there are other things outside of the venue that are required to make the event a success.

He mentioned aspects such as security and clearing players and officials at the airports as among the non-cricketing aspects that contribute to the success of hosting such an event.

“We had a high-level representation at the initial meeting in St Lucia and since we (Government) want the Stadium to be utilized, we have given tremendous support to the cricket board for the staging of the Twenty20 tournament,” Dr Anthony, the chairman of Guyana’s Oversight Committee for next year’s event, stated.

“We kept asking about the matches in Guyana and since we could not get a proper answer we did not sign on to the ICC’s Marketing Package. We were told that we would get a 30-second commercial for every match in Guyana, in addition to signs promoting Guyana at the ground. We could not pay a fee without knowing how many matches we would be getting, and now that more than one game is being played at the same time at different venues our target audience will be reduced,” Anthony explained.

He also said that while the Government will get nothing for the use of the Stadium, the projection was good for the hospitality sector. “Hotels, taxis and the business community in general, benefit from the increased number of visitors expected, but with less matches and only first round games now set for here, the economic benefits would not be as much as anticipated.”

Even with the fixtures out, all of the teams to play in Guyana are not known since the associate team which will play against the West Indies in the opening match will not be known until October.

Dr Anthony said plans are in place to promote this as a sports tourism event, but although preparations will not be scaled down, the projected benefits will be much less because of the games set for Guyana.

The Minister was also concerned that children under 16 will be admitted free and the potential problems this can cause.

“I support the idea of having children free but how would you know who is under 16? How would you know how many tickets to sell? What would you do if 8,000 under-16s turn up early and those with tickets have no seats? These are decisions that should have been discussed with us, since the whole security aspect of the planning could be affected by this decision,” Dr Anthony said.

Both Singh and Dr Anthony said Guyana will be following up the issue and hope for an explanation from Hillaire soon. As it is, they are very dissatisfied with the way the whole final selection and announcement of which territory got which matches was handled, without the inclusion or notification of the GCB or Guyana Government.

The opening ceremony is also slated for Guyana before the first match on April 30, and Dr Anthony was unsure if this would incur any extra cost for Guyana.

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