The Bermine ground in Stanleytown New Amsterdam once produced several national and Berbice inter-county cricketers but is no longer used for anything. Most of the community grounds, including the Skeldon, Rosehall Canjie, Blairmount, LBI and Uitvlugt are all controlled by GuySuco all hosted First-Class cricket in the past along with the Suddie and Anna Regina Community Centre grounds in Essequibo and are in a state of disrepair. The Carifesta Sports Complex (formerly GNS), Ministry of Education and National Insurance Scheme grounds, all on Carifesta Avenue Transport Sports Club (TSC) ground and PSU venue (Thomas Lands) and GNIC ground (Woolford Avenue) are all run by State owned entities. The State owned GuySuco grounds were well maintained venues in Skeldon, Rose Hall Canje, Blairmont, LBI, Versailles and Uitvlugt but under the previous Government they were allowed to fall into disrepair and it seems the present Administration is not interested in seeing them rehabilitated. Under the past Government, State owned grounds in the city were allowed to become virtual jungles, while garbage was dumped on a ground on Mandela Avenue which hosted third division games. The North Georgetown Primary school now sits on what was once the Richard Ishmael Secondary School ground where other students and I built a cricket pitch while the Tutorial High School sits on what was the best cricket ground in Woolford Avenue. The DCB Practice facility is covered with bush. The Forbes Burnham led Government was the last to place any level of emphasis on Sports and under the PPP government these things were gradually phased out and sports grounds converted into Housing projects. National and former national cricketers were sent to Coach in schools by the NSDC. During the first 25 years of Independence, Sports was a ‘big thing’ with the staging of the annual Guystac and Guymine games while national athletes were never denied time off from their jobs to train or represent their country. I got my first job in the Admin Department at GNTC not only because of my qualifications but more, I believe, because I played cricket which was a part of the Guystac Games. The National Sports Development Council (NSDC) on Brickdam ran a national Under-16 cricket competition and Inter-House cricket was an important aspect of school life. When I played for Guyana at the Under-19 level in the 80s, we had good facilities and the structure for cricket development at the grassroots level was strong. Only recently the GCA suggested calling for Government’s assistance for Cricket clubs in the City while many Sports Administrators feels the Government is not doing enough for Sports. The Road to the Buxton Community ground is in very poor condition while the MSC ground in Linden (where Regional U-19 Cricket was played in the 80s) is not in a condition to host proper cricket matches, these two areas give the Coalition Government plenty of votes. The collective cry by those in the sports fraternity is ‘Same game, different players’ and if this Government continues to ignore Sports and Young Guyanese they could be hard pressed to survive an early election. The dismantled Lance Gibbs stand at Bourda.
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