Botswana Cricket Association has embarked on a program to improve their facilities whilst waiting for the cricket season to resume.
The Association’s secretary general Sumod Damodar, has said the coronavirus pandemic is like a blessing in disguise for them as it has given them time to work on revamping their facilities.
“It is very difficult to renovate or improve facilities with a season ongoing,” he explained.
“The BCA oval in Gaborone has two grounds. We are adding a new turf wicket on the B ground, and we are also setting up new turf practice nets,” he said adding that “additionally, our grounds at Francistown are also being worked on to make improvements overall, at the moment we have three turf wickets being added to the ground.”
He further added that for a long time they had explored the possibilities of relaying a turf on the B field but to no avail.
Damodar however said as this would have been time consuming and disruptive to a lot of activities, they used this break to add value to their facilities.
“The foundation has been laid down as well as the bed. We are awaiting to prepare the top part in terms of receiving grass which is an elaborate and time-consuming process,” he said.
Once the grass is received, Damodar said they will have ‘to wait for the perfect time to plant the grass to make sure we have sufficient rains and water to make sure it takes root.’
On where they got the funds for the project, Damodar said they had budgeted for them over the years and got extra help from BCA’s mother bodies’ grants for project developments.
“We were able to make extra savings as an association which have been set aside for such projects. This was done with the support of grants from International Cricket Council (ICC) and Botswana National Sport Council (BNSC).”
Damodar went on to add that the laying of a new turf can enhance growth of cricket in the country, regionally as well as internationally.
“This gives us a better opportunity to bid for hosting of international competitions as well as those of higher stature than the regional ones we hosted because they are played on turf wickets,” opined Damodar.
“Improvements to facilities in whatever form can only enhance the activities and possibilities for the players as well as visitors. We have a great record when it comes to hosting tournaments in the past, and such improvements can only mean more exposure for our country as well as players, hence attracting sponsors and more opportunities to host games,” the BCA spokesperson added.
Damodar said they are hopeful that all will go well for them, and fruits will be reaped once all improvements are done.
