Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Secretary Anand Sanasie hailed the government’s swift action in helping Guyana to secure their bid to host this year ICC Women’s World T20, set to bowl off in November 2018.
During Friday’s gala at the Umana Yana where the official three countries tour bowled off with Guyana being the first destination, Sanasie during his remarks credited the local government; more specifically Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport, Dr. George Norton for his quick-response which was the catalyst behind the success.
GCB Secretary and CWI Director Anand Sanasie speaking during the ICC Women’s World T20 Guyana leg opening at the Umana Yana on Friday
The GCB executive said that it was good to see Guyana again getting back to its familiar ways of hosting international cricket, adding that the event is even more monumental because for the first time the tournament will be staged by itself rather than run off concurrently with the males.
“Once again cricket has returned to Guyana and world cup cricket for the third time around but this time it’s unique because it’s a standalone tournament and Guyana will be hosting the warm up and preliminary stages.”
According to Sanasie, Guyana’s luck paid off due to the eagerness and fast response from Minister Norton, who immediately insisted on doing as much as required to ensure that the country met the mandates needed to host such an event.
“When the bidding process started for the tournament and the GCB approached Minister Norton without out hesitation he said we will be bidding on it and we want all the different stages. So personally on behalf of the GCB I want to say thank you for the quick response which enabled us in being successful in doing that,” said Sanasie.
Sanasie, a Cricket West Indies (CWI) director noted that had Guyana have two international venues, the chances of hosting more matches or even the finals would have been possible; but nevertheless thanked the CWI executives in attendance for considering the country as one of their hosts.
With the event recording some 150 million views last edition which was won by the Windies ladies, Sanasie said that this Women’s Cup has the potential to break new barriers and encouraged the world to visit Guyana come November and be a part of the spectacle.
With Guyana recently striking oil, the marketing and tourism possibilities have just quadrupled; resulting in more opportunities for Guyana to promote Sports and tourism fused in one.
Sanasie said that the event will allow Guyana to be seen from a spectrum much wider than imagined. “Recently in Guyana we have been talking about Sports Tourism and it doesn’t get bigger than this, so we have to ensure we make the most of this because we will have the opportunity to showcase Guyana to 150 million across the globe, thanks to CWI and the ICC”.
Guyana will prepare to host some eight days of cricket starting from November 4, including a few of the Cup’s preliminaries matches which will be played at the Providence National Stadium.
