Ramson not pleased with World Cup matches for Guyana

Jan 13, 2024 Sports

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur Sports – As Guyana prepares to host matches in this year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., expresses dissatisfaction with the quality of matches scheduled for Providence.

Guyana and Trinidad are set to host Group C matches for the World Cup, bringing together the West Indies, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, and Uganda.

Similar to Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana will also host one of the semi-final matches.

However, Minister Ramson, speaking at his end-of-the-year Press Conference yesterday, voiced his discontent with the assigned matches.

“It’s not the quantity of matches that I’m unsatisfied with…I’m dissatisfied with the teams allocated to Guyana based on the groups,” noted Minister Ramson.

Minister of MCY&S, Charles Ramson speaks yesterday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

Minister Ramson reasoned that when the Government of Guyana secures matches for the country, the aim is to attract high-profile games, adding that even if they don’t secure all the marquee matches, having at least a few is crucial for global appeal.

The West Indies is scheduled to play two matches in Guyana, facing Papua New Guinea on June 2 and Uganda on June 8.

Minister Ramson expressed concern, stating, “Guyanese are going to be excited about cricket, regardless, but when you examine who the West Indies are playing and where the big names and games are playing; a lot of the games for India and Pakistan went to the USA, so we are now competing, for the market share with the US.”

In the USA, 16 matches are set to be played in New York, Dallas, and Fort Lauderdale.

The highly anticipated India-Pakistan fixture is scheduled for June 9 at Eisenhower Park in New York, marking a significant event in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup.

India will play their first three group matches in New York and the fourth in Florida.

Defending champions England will take on Australia on June 8 in Barbados.

The tournament, co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies, kicks off on June 1, with the USA facing Canada in Dallas.

The final is scheduled for June 29 in Barbados, with the semi-finals set for June 26 in Guyana and June 27 in Trinidad.

“We are not complaining about the number of games because we knew in advance what was the likely outcome of the number of games we were going to get,” Ramson said.

However, the Guyanese Minister of Sport believes that “the ICC has to be cognizant of the fact that we are small territories and these type of events make a big impact on the country in many ways, some quantifiable and some unquantifiable, so the type of games that are assigned to small territories (like Guyana) are very important to them.”

The 55 matches will unfold across six West Indies venues and three USA venues. Group A teams will be based entirely in the USA for the group stage, while Groups B and C will play in the West Indies. Only Group D will have matches split between the USA and the West Indies.

The 2024 T20 World Cup, featuring 20 teams, marks an increase from the 16 in the 2022 tournament in Australia.

Split into four groups, the top two teams from each group advance to the Super 8 round, followed by the semi-finals.

England, the defending champions, triumphed over Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup final in Melbourne.

Canada, USA, and Uganda are set to make their first appearance at a Men’s T20 World Cup.

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Charles Ramson Jr, International Cricket Council (ICC), Minister of Culture, Rawle Toney, T20 World Cup, Youth and Sport

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