GCB mulling bid to host India ODIs – Sanasie

By Akeem Greene

Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Anand Sanasie, is hopeful that the GCB would be able to make a successful bid to host the top-ranked India for at least two One Day Internationals (ODI) at the National Stadium at Providence in 2019.
In an exclusive comment on Friday, Sanasie told Guyana Times Sport that the GCB are making plans to table a proposal to the Government of Guyana, whose endorsement he deems highly influential in the GCB being successful at the bidding process.
The top ranked team from the Asian sub-continent last came to Guyana in April 2002, when they drew the first Test in a five-Test itinerary at the historic Georgetown Cricket Club ground in Bourda.
Based on reports, this dominant Asian team are set to tour the Caribbean after the 50-Over World Cup competition in England, which runs from May 30 to July 14, and would be engaging their Caribbean counterparts in three Tests, three ODIs and three T20s.
India would have last toured the Caribbean in June-July 2017, when they won the five-match ODI series 3-1 but suffered defeat to the West Indies in a T20 match. Those matches were played in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Antigua.
According to a report in the Trinidad Guardian, Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Dave Cameron, made an offer to the newly minted Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Sports, Shamfa Cudjoe, among other dignitaries from the Caribbean.
“We have two very good tours next year with England and India visiting, so I have been going around the region to meet with the governments to show them the value of these games in terms of boosting their sports tourism sector,” Cameron is reported to have said.
The report further detailed that the CWI president met with governments across the region about the opportunities that exist in hosting matches, and what they need to deliver in terms of their bids.
“We have met with Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, Grenada, St. Lucia and Jamaica, and we have already gotten some positive responses in terms of hosting the matches. We are happy that the governments are showing this great interest,” Cameron is reported to have said.
Sanasie, meanwhile, explained that in addition to hosting Bangladesh for ODIs on July 22 and 25 this year, South Africa women are headed for Guyana just prior to the staging of the Women’s T20 World Cup, for which this country is a co-host of the November 9-24 showpiece