Ja could host Women’s T20 World Cup
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC): amaica is still in the running among official host venues for this year’s Women’s Twenty20 World Cup after it emerged last month that two of the region’s major cricketing nations, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, were set to miss out as venues after failing to submit bids.
Sports authorities here are confident that Guyana will also get the nod after the country put in a bid for the governmentowned National Stadium to host matches during the November 3-24 showpiece and believe that the odds are in their favour.
The National Stadium at Providence was one of 11 venues inspected by the International Cricket Council last November in preparation for the upcoming tournament.
Venues in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, St Lucia, Jamaica, Antigua, and St Kitts were all also visited by the ICC team.
“I rather suspect because of the fact that the stadium is owned by government and because the stadium has no branding on it, this puts Guyana in a position where we can very likely be one of the four to host the Women’s International World Cup,” said director of sports,
JChristopher Jones. In order to host games during the tournament, the country will have to meet several prerequisites like ensuring the erection of a replay screen at the stadium.
TALKS WITH MINISTRY
Jones said that while the national budget had made provisions for some of the costs associated with hosting the World Cup, talks were under way with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that everything was approved.
“We are still engaging the Ministry of Finance with a view to reprioritising some of those requests from the budget that would have been made by the various facilities,” Jones noted.
“Those discourses are still ongoing, and we are confident we will see the allocations being made available.”
Eight countries – South Africa, England, Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and title-holders West Indies – have already qualified for the showpiece.
Bangladesh, Ireland, The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Uganda, and two Asia qualifiers will vie for the two remaining spots courtesy of a qualifier in The Netherlands next June.