For the upcoming senior male regional tournaments, and those in the foreseeable future, the Guyana Jaguars will have a new name, Guyana Amazon Jaguars, and the franchise will now be under the full control of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), instead of the “private entity”, Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI).
GCB President Bissoondyal Singh made this announcement at the weekend when the body held its first official media briefing since taking office in March 2021.
At the over two-hour long engagement held at the Grand Coastal Hotel, East Coast Demerara, a wide range of plans and vision of the Board were shared with local media operatives.
Singh explained that contractual issues which are currently engaging the attention of the courts is the reason which prompted the name change.
“It must be noted that in the other territories, CWI [Cricket West Indies] affiliate boards own the franchise company, this is not the case in Guyana, the Guyana Cricket Board does not own CGI, and this along with other reasons has caused the GCB to effect a name change of the national franchise team,” the GCB President explained.
“We have asked Cricket West Indies to deal directly with the GCB and no third party,” the CWI Director further stated.
This move is also aimed at creating new contracts for players and the coaches, and also getting access to the Cricket Development funds from CWI.
CGI was created when CWI launched its Professional Cricket League for senior male Four-Day and 50-over cricket in 2014.
CGI managed all the affairs of the Jaguars and subsequently started a local Academy in which players outside of the 15 contracted Guyana Jaguars players, were paid monthly salaries from CGI.
The contracted Guyana Jaguars players were also paid through CGI, but their monthly salaries, match and tour fees were catered for by CWI.
