The Guyana Cricket Board has hailed the inaugural Cricket Carnival a success.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the GCB said this historic initiative was conceptualised to merge cricket and sports tourism thereby stimulating interest among cricket enthusiasts not just in Guyana, but across the world.
President of the Guyana Cricket Board Bissoondyal Singh Cricket Carnival should remain a core component of the development and promotion of cricket in Guyana.
“Cricket is a career option for both males and females, and with the lucrative opportunities offered these days, we are of the view that the game should be marketed to facilitate support for local spectators and visitors to our country during the period of professional matches are being conducted. The cricket carnival initiative is a significant way to promote sports tourism, and we highly commend His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali and Government for a job well done. We are all proud of you.”
While these sentiments were echoed by Tourism Minister Oneidge Waldron, people have taken to social media to share recommendations to further improve this product.
Speaking specifically about the Carnival events, several people said they should be better organised moving forward.
“Carnival events need to be better organised, especially when comes to time most of the events started late,” one woman posted.
“Better costumes…We want children to enjoy the festivities too but with those costumes…they shouldn’t be seeing all that,” another posted.
Quite a few other people were disappointed with the events that followed the end of the CPL final.
One woman posted: “One thing I was a little taken back by for the final cricket game, once it was over, the field was closed off and there was no entertainment or announcements or awards ceremony. Unless I missed that part. I had a wonderful time and I know next year the areas will be a lot more developed! The bathrooms definitely need updating. It would also be nice to have a live commentary that the audience can hear, half the time I didn’t know what was going on with all the distractions,” he said.
Another person highlighted the need for better bathroom facilities.
“The washrooms at the stadium were extremely obnoxious, the doors didn’t have locks, there wasn’t any water, and also one at the green stand didn’t have any lights. It was such a major disappointment. Just real embarrassing.”
Several sold-out events were hosted as part of the Cricket Carnival festivities. Mega Concert one featured regional artistes Patrice Roberts, Beres Hammond and Ravi B.
Mega Concert 2- Soca meets dancehall- featured Spice, Skillibeng and Machel Montano.
Guyana’s Cricket Carnival ended on October 2 with a parade through the streets of Georgetown.
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