Chairman of the Competitions Committee of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), Shaun Massiah has blasted ground staff and players alike for their lack of enthusiasm towards the welfare and responsibility of club grounds and pitches in the Georgetown district.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport on Sunday immediately after the announcement that the match between the University of Guyana (UG) and Police Sports Club which was scheduled to be played at the Muslim Youth Organization (MYO) ground was cancelled due to the waterlogged pitch, Massiah said that the weather was not to be entirely blamed for the issues surrounding that match cancellation.
The GCA recently restarted its 2013 New Building Society (NBS) U19 competition this past weekend with Muslim Youth Organization (MYO) defeating the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) at MYO ground on Saturday.
However, Sunday’s scheduled matches between Sophia Cricket Club and Malteenoes Sports Club at GNIC, along with the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and the Transport Sports Club encounter at Everest were forced to be abandoned due to the weather and the soaked pitches which was a result of inferior covers.
Massiah feels that the clubs should come together and assist the situation by raising funds in order to prevent a reoccurrence in the future.
“One of our main problems is that we have only one ground staff that takes care of all the grounds.
That makes it very difficult to ensure that grounds/pitches are well kept and protected after they are prepared. Also the ground staff at times acts lacklustre towards their duty of ensuring that the outfield and especially the pitches are properly overseen,” he added.
According to Massiah the covers which most clubs possess are of poor quality which makes them incapable of protecting and keeping pitches dry after they are prepared for games.
“This is a problem affecting most clubs in the Georgetown area that urgently needs fixing,” he opined.
The chairman also noted that clubs, with the exception of MYO, do not seem to care about the well being of their grounds.
“Most young players do not want to assist ground-staff in putting on or taking off of covers if that help is needed. This is a huge disappointment as we want young players to be aware of the fact that the responsibility lies with them to ensure that their playing surroundings are well kept,” he added.
Massiah credited the MYO club for its all round efforts in keeping their ground and pitch well preserved. He noted that the club was the only one he has ever noticed to assist in pitch preparations with regards to the putting on and removing of covers.
As a result of the technical issues and the May/June showers which seem to be increasing in its unpredictability, Massiah said he hopes these errors are rectified and will do his best to ensure that cricket around Georgetown is brought back to a respectable standard.
