`The only constant in life is change’ – GCC aims to reinvent itself as a multi-sport complex

The Government of Guyana is funding an overhaul of the pitch at Bourda in anticipation of the ICC T20 World Cup in June. GCC has been selected by ICC as a training/warm-up venue

By Michaelangelo Jacobus

The only constant in life is change. Greek philosopher Heraclitus is renowned for this statement. Simple but resoundingly true.

The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, better known simply as Bourda, was at its pinnacle, rated as one of the best cricket grounds in the Caribbean. Home to many legends of Guyanese and West Indian cricket, known for its pulsating and enchanting aura back when Test cricket ruled the roost, many cricket fans who were fortunate to attend an international fixture or even a first class game back in the day can boast of fond memories, be it in the Ladies stand, the Rohan Kanhai Stand, the Lance Gibbs Stand, the Mound or in this author’s case, the Schoolboys Stand.

Those fond memories are remnants of an era that is no more, today, as you enter the ground from the Shiv Chanderpaul Drive (formerly New Garden Street), you are hit with a hair-raising sense of ‘what once was’; of the stands mentioned before, only the Rohan Kanhai Stand exists at the Southern end while the Media Centre stands aloof at the opposite end. Two skeletal silhouettes standing there as if to remind one of the ‘heydays’ of Bourda.