Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport, Dr George Norton feels that Guyana as a host territory for India’s tour of the Caribbean come August as well as the Regional Under-19 tournament should be a done deal.
In an exclusive interview yesterday with Stabroek Sport, , Norton said the decision was already finalized by former President of Cricket West Indies, Dave Cameron, that Guyana will host two One Day Internationals between the West Indies and India.
“We have documents already guaranteeing us that, this is from Mr. Cameron, we reached that agreement with Mr. Cameron,” Norton said when asked about the India tour.
Similarly, Guyana had successfully secured the bid to host the Regional Under-19 tournament which they have won for the last five years.
However, recent developments where Dave Cameron was defeated in his bid for reelection as CWI president as well as the Guyana Cricket Board executives being deemed illegal have shrouded the two issues in a bit of uncertainty.
Newly elected CWI president Ricky Skerritt visited Guyana for two days recently where he met with various government officials and cricketing personnel.
Norton said at the meeting with Skerritt he explained Guyana’s position as it relates to hosting India.
“From the initial stage of the meeting that was our main aim, to let him know that we expect to have the India tour and the Regional under-19 and we would do whatever it takes to have that,” Norton said.
While the documentations provided some amount of prospect for Guyana to host the two events, Norton said Skerritt “did confirm some amount of certainty with the India tour but not so much with the Under-19 tour.”
The Minister of Social Cohesion posited that even with the GCB issue, it was still possible for Guyana to host the event, noting that last year, Guyana successfully hosted the Women’s World T20 with
“Of course we would have to discuss this further but we took up the challenge with our local organizing committee for the Women’s t20…we literally did everything that is necessary,” Norton stated.
“If the local organizing committee has to be installed to host India then by all means necessary,” he declared.
To date, Cricket West Indies have not yet made any pronouncement for the two events in Guyana.
