Stadium available for WI/ Pakistan Test match, says sport minister

By Rajiv Bisnauth –

Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony revealed on Wednesday that the Guyana National Stadium is available and equipped to host the West Indies versus Pakistan Test match, which is tentatively scheduled for June this year.
This declaration came on the heels of concerns that the country may lose the opportunity to host international matches because of the impasse between the Guyana Cricket Board and the government of Guyana.

“The stadium is available to host the Test match, however, as was done in the past we would normally sign the agreement between ourselves and the WICB, once we can have such a host venue agreement we would sign that agreement. We have seen a draft that looks like the ones that we have previously signed and therefore that is right now under consideration” the minister said when questioned by the media on Wednesday afternoon at his Main Street office.
The GCB were given a March 7 deadline by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to indicate whether or not the  can accommodate the hosting of the Test match. The WICB had also announced that Jamaica’s Sabina Park was identified as the alternate venue to host the match if the GCB did not give a favourable response.
However, Dr Anthony said he is optimistic that the host venue agreement will be signed before the deadline.
“I am optimistic that we will meet the deadline because it’s a simple thing, the host venue agreement that we have signed several times in the past would have been between the WICB and the stadium authority and once we have been presented with an agreement like that we would sign it, we have no problem with that,” Anthony declared.
That told, a source from the GCB said that the local governing body did meet all of the other WICB requirements for the hosting of the Test match.
Meanwhile, the controversial AGM and elections of the GCB in 2011 led to the Guyana government replacing it with an Interim Management Committee (IMC). However, throughout the impasse, which is over a year old, the WICB maintained its position that it recognised only the GCB as the sole governing body responsible for the administration, management and development of cricket in Guyana.
In January, the WICB said they were pleased with the progress being made to resolve the impasse in the country and announced that an international fixture was tentatively set for Guyana.
Guyana paid the price last year after several regional matches and a Test match between the West Indies and Australia in April were pulled by the WICB from Guyana.