-cite weather as a factor in schedule
International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman Brian Murgatroyd and ICC Twenty20 World Cup Tournament Director Ernest Hilaire have said that they are baffled by claims made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Government of Guyana about a World T20 match schedule, contrary to what they were promised.
On July 4 at the Beausejour indoor facility in Gros Islet, St Lucia, the ICC unveiled to the world the match schedule and ticket prices for the event which will bowl off on April 30 in the Caribbean for the first time since it was first played in 2007. Guyana, St Lucia, Barbados and St Kitts were chosen to host matches in the male and female version of the tournament with the Land of Many Waters playing host to the opening ceremony followed by matches in group D which will see the West Indies being grouped with England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and one team that qualifies from the ICC associate countries.
However, according to Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony, Guyana was treated unfairly by being deprived of four of the 10 matches requested for the tournament.
But when contacted yesterday, Hilaire in a telephone interview with this newspaper noted that the WICB had informed the sport minister that though they might have made several requests, it was not a given that they would have gotten their way because it is the ICC that has the final say in the allocation of matches.
And according to Hilaire, contrary to the sport minister saying he only knew that Guyana would be getting just the first round of matches at the ticket launch last Saturday, it was conveyed to Dr Anthony that Guyana would not be getting what it had requested before hand.
The tournament director said that since the games are being held in the region, the weather patterns of the Caribbean had to be taken into consideration and this was one of the criteria used to allocate matches.
Therefore the matches in Guyana were set to take into account its May/June rains with games being played from April 30 – May 3.
Another major factor in the allotment of games to the three countries was adequate accommodation as he noted that so far only the Pegasus Hotel had met the ICC requirements where this is concerned.
Hilaire said that just for the first round of matches, 180 rooms are down for the teams alone, not mentioning another estimated 100 for the media and broadcasting crew along with officials.
Meanwhile, Murgatroyd via an email to Stabroek News said that the process of deciding on the schedule was a huge logistical challenge for the ICC with numerous considerations to be made in areas such as the desirability of the venues, the competing teams and the broadcasters and commercials.
Like Hilaire, the ICC spokesman said that historical weather patterns in Guyana indicate that there has been a greater tendency for it to rain in the latter part of the period when the tournament is due to be staged, hence the need to stage matches in the first part of the event.He also reiterated that limited accommodation in Guyana means realistically it would be extremely difficult to host more than the number of matches it has been allocated.
As an example, he noted that each team for the tournament requires roughly 30 rooms; on top of that there would be a requirement of around 100 rooms for the TV crew and beyond that additional rooms for media and also supporters.
Murgatroyd also stated that the double-header nature of some match days, necessary to offer spectators and broadcasters value for money and also to ensure a short, sharp event, would mean at least four teams, plus TV crew, media and supporters in one location at one time, if not more. It is sometimes five or six teams.
The issues which were pointed out, the official said, had nothing to do with the Providence stadium which was given the thumbs up by the visiting inspection team.
However, unlike the other host territories, Guyana is the only country that is promised matches with the West Indies team.
Though the ticket prices and match schedule were released, the playing time is yet to be finalized since the WICB and the ICC are still deliberating over the issues because of the difference in the time zones between the Caribbean and some other nations.