The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is set to pay keen interest in the areas of school, youth, and female cricket, while under-21 and under-23 tournaments are also in the pipeline.
This was recently announced by President of the GCB, Bissoondyal Singh, when the Board held its first public conference after eight months.
According to Singh, “School cricket will be conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Education, and the Guyana Teachers Union.”
He added, “The priority areas for the subcommittee are consultation [with the] Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union, Primary and Secondary School Cricket competitions for male and female, needs assessment on personnel required, coaches, physical education teachers, selection of schools, and training of teachers.”
Singh, who is also a Cricket West Indies Director, President of the Demerara Cricket Board and East Coast Cricket Board detailed, “Training and competition in catchment areas, preparation of a national teams and encampment, utilization of appropriate resource personnel, academy for female cricketers and database for female cricketers,” is also in the pipelines.
With regards to youth cricket, the GCB head noted that “reorganising and restructuring” will be done including “coaching and mentoring of players, creating a clear pathway for players through training and competition at school, club, association and county levels, and national team preparation.”
Meanwhile, the GCB intends to introduce two intermediate tournaments for under-21 and under-23 players.
Singh stated, “You noticed two competitions there – Under-21 and Under-23 – and that is the focal point.” According to Singh, the aim is to “bridge that gap” that exists between youth cricket and senior cricket with these tournaments fitting into the academy and development programmes.
