GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — International and first-class cricket matches are set to return Guyana later this year after the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said it was pleased with the progress being made to resolve a lingering impasse.

An international cricket match and two rounds of first-class cricket matches have been tentatively set for Guyana pending the resolution of a dispute that has dragged on for more than a year.

Super50 and four-day matches have been scheduled for March, while one of the Test matches between West Indies and Pakistan is also slated for the Guyana National stadium in July.

“The board approved a recommendation to tentatively schedule one of the West Indies versus Pakistan Test matches and two rounds of the Super50 and regional four-day matches for the Guyana National Stadium, pending the normalisation of the situation in Guyana,” the WICB said in a statement following a board meeting in St Lucia last weekend.

“The Test match is slated for July and the Super50 and four-day matches will be after the break in the season, which is scheduled for March 12-20”.

Guyana has not hosted international and first-class matches in more than a year as a result of the dispute which emanated from Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) elections in 2011.

A major issue of contention arising from the disputed election was the decision by the Government to dissolve the GCB and replace it with an Interim Management Committee (IMC) which the WICB refused to recognise.

Meantime, two new directors — Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen— have been appointed to the WICB after being nominated by the Guyana Cricket Board.

Sanasie had resigned as a director of the WICB last year while Kalladeen was appointed for the first time.