2024 ICC Cricket World Cup Bill successfully passed in Parliament

May 10, 2024 Sports

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– President Ali visits Guyana National Stadium

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur Sports – Yesterday, the National Assembly successfully passed the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies Bill, 2024, paving the way for the smooth execution of the event in Guyana.

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are set to host Group C matches for the T20 World Cup, bringing together teams from the West Indies, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, and Uganda.

Like Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana will also host one of the semi-final matches. The West Indies is slated to play two matches in Guyana, taking on Papua New Guinea on June 2nd and Uganda on June 8th.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) event is jointly hosted in the West Indies and the USA, marking the second time the event is held in the Caribbean, following the inaugural tournament in 2010.

While Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, presented the Bill to Parliament, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, noted that the bill was “drafted and compiled at a CARICOM level in collaboration with other Venue Countries, including the USA.”

“So this has been a collaborative project, in which legislation has been drafted to keep in compliance, where there are agreements with ICC Cricket World Cup. And so a number of countries have passed this bill already, and a number of countries are in Parliament,” Teixeira informed.

Minister Teixeira reminisced about the Sunset Legislation, which was passed in the National Assembly during the Caribbean’s inaugural hosting of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007.

The current Bill outlines various aspects of Special Arrangements, Conduct in Venues during the tournament, and Control of Advertising.

The Bill also specifies Prohibited Items, prohibiting patrons from entering with offensive or political signage, as well as any promotional or commercial materials.

Meanwhile, President Irfaan Ali and Minister Ramson inspected ongoing work at the Guyana National Stadium on Wednesday, the country’s premier cricket facility.

MINISTER RAMSON NOT SATISFIED

In January, at a Press Conference, Minister Ramson expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of matches scheduled for Providence.

“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 Ramson explained that when the Government of Guyana secures matches for the country, the goal is to attract high-profile games.

He highlighted, that even if they don’t secure all the marquee matches, having at least a few is crucial for global appeal.

Minister Ramson added, “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 take place across six venues in the West Indies and three in the USA. Group A teams will be exclusively based in the USA for the group stage, while Groups B and C will compete in the West Indies. Only Group D matches will be split between the USA and the West Indies.

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

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

In the 2022 T20 World Cup final in Melbourne, England, the defending champions, emerged victorious over Pakistan.

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

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• 2024 ICC Cricket World Cup Bill, Parliament, Rawle Toney, stadium, Uganda

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