– Secretary
The money that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) stands to gain from the participation of the Amazon Conquerors in the Airtel Champions League 20/20 tournament in South Africa will go towards paying outstanding debts and cricket development, according to GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie.
The GCB is expected to receive 17 per cent (US$85,000) of the US$500,000 Participation Fee that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will receive from the organizers of the Airtel Champions League.
Further, the organizers will be handing over US$200,000 for their first round exit to the GCB within the next 20 days.
According to Sanasie, 25 percent of that US$200,000 will be kept by the Board and the remainder of the money will be going to the players. As it relates to the WICB, it is expected that the regional governing body will pocket 33 percent (US$165,000) and the players will get 50 per cent (US$250,000).
Sanasie stated that that while it is not yet known what projects are to be funded there are some outstanding debts that have to be paid. “What is for sure though is that all the money will be going into the development of cricket at all levels,” Sanasie stated. “No plan has yet been drafted on how the money is going to be spent but a lone project will not benefit from the monies’ allocation,” he added.
He also disclosed that a five-man technical committee may be set up after a proposal was put forward to have an elite group of 25 players in training year round.
The GCB Secretary said that the money that the GCB will be getting will not be “any big amount” but the board is committed to the development of the game.
When asked whether any money is likely to be allocated to the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) training facility, which is now a sanctuary for cows, wasps and vines, Sanasie stated “as far as I am concerned that facility is already completed.”
But reminded that it had no electricity and it was not handed over to the DCB, he reiterated that “we (GCB) don’t know where the money will be spent as yet.”
The facility is located in the compound of the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) ground, Woolford Avenue.
The building, which was constructed after Guyana won the inaugural Twenty/20 tournament in 2006, was built by the Stanford grant from now-imprisoned Texas billionaire Allen Stanford. When Stabroek Sport had visited the site last July the $8 million facility was without electricity and vegetation had started to grow on the door while there were two huge wasp nests on the fence that encloses the practice pitches, which were completely covered with grass as high as the shin bone.
President of the GCB Chetram Singh had also maintained then that the facility would not have been forsaken. Meanwhile, when Stabroek Sport contacted Singh yesterday he stated that the GCB has to pay “many expenses” since it was not cheap to prepare the national cricket team for their assignment in South Africa. He pointed out that the bill for the players to be hosted at the Princess Hotel ran into the millions.
“We have plenty of expenses,” Singh said.
