THE chairman of the Guernsey Cricket Association has denied that staging a live music festival on the Victoria Avenue pitch would have had a negative effect on local sport. ‘We would probably play cricket there only about once a week over the summer months anyway and if we had been approached, we would have said that we could easily give up the ground for a week or two while everything was set up and taken down,’ said Mark Latter. ‘As far as I am aware, no one has come to the GCA about this to seek cricketers’ views.
‘If Deputy Sirett is saying that they’ve decided to pull Guernsey Live in the interest of cricket, then he is making assumptions on what is best for the sport.’
Mr Latter said the association had been approached about how often games would take place on the pitch, but considering the condition of the grounds last year - when the grass had grown too long even to find a cricket ball with any ease - players were used to making the best of the area’s condition.
Mr Latter added that if organisers provided a temporary surface, which festival coordinator Warren Holt said was the type used to good effect at Glastonbury, he was confident the grounds would be well protected.
‘And it would probably save me a lot of money - I wouldn’t have to go to the V Festival to see live music,’ he said.
Randall’s Brewery managing director Ian Rogers, who had been due to run the bars and provide staff at the event, thought it would have brought a lot of people to the island.
‘At one stage, Culture and Leisure was all for it but it seems they have back-tracked,’ said Mr Rogers.
‘It’s all very peculiar. The island needs something different to attract different people over rather than just the suits.’
Local musicians, too, were in support of the event.
Johnny Holloway, bassist with local band Ferox and guitarist with Brutus Stonefist, said that attending a festival was an important part of being a music fan and it saddened him to hear Guernsey’s event had been scrapped.
‘We need that sort of event over here,’ he said. ‘The issues they have raised sound like they could be easily fixed. And if they’re saying they can lay down temporary flooring and cover the cost, surely that would be enough.
‘It doesn’t sound to me like Peter Sirett is doing his job properly - the festival would be all about culture and leisure, after all.’
Loading ...
Share this article:
What are these?