CWI high performance unit, GCB/GHE in high-level meeting

Recently, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) High Performance Unit (HP) and the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Harpy Eagles Franchise (GHE) held an historic meeting when the CWI HP Unit visited Guyana from Sunday, November 26 to Tuesday, November 28, 2023.
The CWI HP Unit included Enoch Lewis, a CWI Director and Chairman of the CWI Cricket Committee; Graeme West, the HP Manager; Miles Bascome, the newly-appointed Director of Cricket; and Chris Brabazon, Head of coaching education.
Brabazon brings four years’ experience as a Coach Development Manager in Western Australia, having worked at every level of the Cricket Australia (CA) coaching development pathway, which ranges from the grassroots to the international level.

Brabazon, who boasts a Post Graduate Certificate in Business Administration, has over 12 years’ experience working in the realm of cricket, with his last four years spent with CWI. Outside of coaching and talent development, the Aussie excels in cricket management and accounting.
West, the former Middlesex County academy director who also served as the Middlesex Cricket Board’s development officer, has been active in his role for 12 years. He also guided the WI Under-19s to their historic International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup title win, back in 2016.
In a welcoming meeting held on Monday, at the GCB Office prior to visits to different facilities, GCB President Bissoondyal Singh thanked the HP Unit for this initiative.
Singh also highlighted the Government of Guyana’s plan to have a national academy as soon as the indoor facility at the Guyana National Stadium is completed. He further stated the vision of Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali which includes the Mackenzie stadium in Linden, the Anna Regina stadium, and the Palmyra stadium.
Those aforementioned stadiums will boast state-of-the-art features that further add to the honing and development of Guyana’s cricket sector.
The Berbice stadium, when done, will seat a whopping 10,000 spectators, adding to the ranks of venues like the famous National Stadium at Providence.
When completed, it will be arguably one of the best facilities in the country and possibly the Caribbean, with its multi-purpose features adding to the country’s stake as it relates to social and cultural activities being hosted at the venue.
President Ali, during the launch in March earlier this year, outlined the importance of cricket and sports in general, across the spread of Guyana, making the new addition of cricket grounds in Linden and Anna Regina, coupled with the state-of-the-art stadiums, a groundbreaking time for Guyana’s cricket future.
The HP Unit’s visit to Guyana constitutes part of a development plan where the committee is scheduled to visit each franchise to meet with the Territorial Board (TB) and/or franchise to overlook training sessions, visit training facilities used regularly as well as meet with GCB President Bissoondyal Singh and the GCB’s Operations Unit to discuss CWI’s and GCB’s development plans for the next two-five years.
The CWI delegation then visited the facilities that are used regularly by the GHE players accompanied by GCB President Singh and other officials from the GCB including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Claude Raphael; Chairman of the Senior Selection Panel, Ramnaresh Sarwan; Cricket Operations Manager Anthony D’Andrade; Head Coach Ryan Hercules; Assistant Coach Garvin Nedd; physiotherapist Angelica Holder and Strength & Conditioning Coach Jaryl Moore.
The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, the Guyana National Stadium, Fitness53 Gym and the LBI Hostel were the facilities that were inspected.
The GCB’s CEO thanked the CWI team for visiting and welcomed this face-to-face meeting, which, hopefully, would now be held more often.