The Guyana Jaguars arrived in Antigua yesterday ahead of today’s 9th round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional 4-day tournament, to find themselves subjected to shoddy treatment.
This is the second time this season that the Guyana team, which takes on the Leeward Hurricanes in the penultimate round today, have had cause to complain.
On their arrival, skipper Leon Johnson and Barbadian all-rounder Raymon Reifer took to social media to vent their frustration regarding the situation.
Wicricnews posted on its website, a photo uploaded by Johnson on his Twitter account of a Styrofoam food box and an almost empty bottle of drink with the caption: “Dinner for the Guyana team, what a joke!”
It also posted a photo Reifer had uploaded to his Instagram account of a single bed, captioned “Is this what young professional cricketers should be sleeping on?”
There were other images of players standing and sitting on a wall somewhere outside the hotel, eating from Styrofoam boxes and one which showed more than one player sharing a bed.
Stabroek Sport was made to understand that food was not provided by the hotel, but was delivered in boxes and there was no water available for the players to drink.
Stabroek Sport made efforts to contact Cricket Guyana Inc (CGI) for a comment on the situation, but this proved futile.
The first incident occurred when the Jaguars arrived in Trinidad &Tobago for the Nagico Regional Super 50 semi-final match against the home team, back in January.
The players were taken to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, but were unable to access the rooms as their bookings had apparently not been confirmed.
Guyana Jaguars management informed CGI and contact was made with the West Indies Cricket Board and the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB). The situation was subsequently resolved and players received free accommodation inclusive of dinner while the managers were given Presidential Suites.
