Chairman of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Competitions Committee Shaun Massiah is adamant that the city’s association can manage the return of cricket action which is stalled by the COVID – 19 pandemic if it receives the green light from the authorities.
Cricket in Georgetown, like many other sports around the country, has been put on ice for several months as a result of the pandemic. “We are awaiting guidance from the [COVID-19] Task Force to say whether team sports can be played,” Massiah told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview.
The Task Force will soon reassess measures implemented to curb the spread of the dreaded disease and as such, the GCA has already been putting measures in place for the possible return of cricket in Georgetown.
“Cricket is not a contact sport and we could get in some play…We were hoping for a return in September because the players are badgering us and the association has already designed plans on how we should go about it if we are given the go-ahead.
“We took some of the measures from the West Indies tour of England and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). We tailored it to suit our situation. We also plan to meet with the clubs to ensure they have facilities for the washing of hands and to ensure they all have temperature guns,” Massiah explained.
He noted that there will be sessions on how to practice sanitary measures on the field, particularly as it relates to the use of saliva on the ball.
Messiah disclosed that although the virus is very serious, the concept of reengaging in live sports isn’t farfetched since cricket has been played in Barbados and other islands at the club level in recent weeks. Not too many persons are present at local games he also stressed. The United Kingdom has resumed their first-class season while Australia is set to bowl off theirs.
However, it will be a tough task to get the ball rolling in Guyana with the COVID- 19 situation worsening each day. As of September 24, Guyana recorded 73 COVID-19 related deaths and over 2,500 positive cases.
