ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Guyana will no longer host the third Test of Australia’s tour of the Caribbean later this year after the West Indies Cricket Board announced yesterday it was pulling the game from the National Stadium at Providence.
The move comes as a result of the Guyana government’s takeover of the administration of cricket in that country, after the Guyana Cricket Board was declared in a legal non-entity by the High Court last year.
Dominica’s Windsor Park will be the beneficiary of the Test, scheduled for April 23-27.
“The change in venue is as a result of the situation in Guyana owing to the Government of Guyana’s push to take over the management and governance of cricket in the country,” the WICB said.
“The Guyana Cricket Board which is the agent of the WICB and the legitimate cricketing authority has been prevented from undertaking the necessary tasks needed to ensure the successful hosting of the match.”
Only last week, the WICB also pulled the first four games of the Regional Four-Day Championship from the government-owned National Stadium, while reiterating its support for the GCB.
Guyana will play these matches away from home as the impasse continues.
The WICB said last week while it was prepared to accept the government Interim Management Committee as an advisory body, it would not “recognize or approve any entity other than the GCB as the authorised governing body for cricket in Guyana.”
Cricket’s world governing body, the ICC, has since thrown its support behind the WICB and the GCB.
Windsor Park, meanwhile, will now host its second Test after staging its first last July between West Indies and India.
Australia will play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20s on the tour that runs from March 16 to April 27
