Dear Editor,
I have been involved in cricket administration since February, 1983, when I was elected President of Malteenoes Sports Club. I served for twenty years as President of this club and during that period it made significant progress and had notable achievements. I list some of these achievements.
1. The club developed a youth cricket programme which saw the emergence of players such as Colwyn Cort, Barrington Browne, the late Nizam Hafiz, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Sean Devers and others.
2. The club established the first cricket academy in the Caribbean.
3. The club successfully organized its centenary celebrations in 2002.
Even after I decided to demit office as President of Malteenoes Sports Club, I continued being involved cricket administration. Since 1983 I have served in several positions and capacities in Guyana and West Indies cricket, for example:-
1. I served on various sub-committees of the Guyana Cricket Board including cricket development, competition, selection and fund-raising. During my tenure on these committees I served along with Gary Nascimento, Professor Aubrey Bishop, Mustaq Khan, Justice Loris Ganpatsingh, Leslie Amsterdam, Wilfred Sonny Edun, Cecil ‘Bruiser’ Thomas, Colin Wiltshire, Ovid Glasgow, Joe Solomon and others.
2. I also worked with Mustaq Khan, Moses Bhagwan, Raymond Williams and others in restructuring the Guyana Cricket Board. This involved the establishment of the Demerara Cricket Board and Georgetown Cricket Association.
3. I was the first President of the Georgetown Cricket Association.
4. I served as President of the Demerara Cricket Board from 2003-2007.
5. I was Chairman of Selectors of the senior panel of the Guyana Cricket Board from 2004 to present.
6. I was also Chairman of the Cricket Development Committee.
7. I served as a West Indies Cricket Board Director from 2007-2009.
Based on my service to cricket in Guyana and the West Indies, I feel that I am eminently qualified to give an informed commentary on the current state of play as it relates to Guyana’s cricket.
It is indeed a pity that after being at the head of Guyana’s Cricket for nineteen years Mr Chetram Singh will demit office without a proper succession plan in place or a strategic plan to guide future leaders, and at a time when chaos and mayhem pervade the board’s operations and our cricket has been grossly devalued.
I now proceed to the presidential race. As I understand it there are now three presidential hopefuls.
1. Mr Ramsay Ali
Mr Ali was elected to the position of Marketing Manager for the Demerara Cricket Board in 2005. In 2007 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board as Marketing Manager, a position that he held from January 2007 to present.
In 2009 he was elected Marketing Manager of the East Bank Cricket Association in his absence.
As Marketing Manager of the Guyana Cricket Board Mr Ali has not submitted a report to the Executive Committee of the board nor has he submitted a work plan, and his fundraising for the GCB at a T20 cricket festival involving Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, USA and Guyana, and the T20 grudge matches against Trinidad and Tobago was less than successful.
All inter-county matches held at the Providence Stadium were also failures. There was poor attendance at these games because of poor promotion. During his tenure as Marketing Manager the board lost four sponsors. Though he indicated that he had acquired a dedicated sponsor for female cricket we are yet to know who this sponsor is.
Mr Ali was also responsible for the establishment of the GCB web site two years ago. However, the web site was only up for a short while.
2. Mr Bishwa Panday
Mr Panday I would like to think is my friend. He is a very successful businessman and a person who is always willing to share with the less fortunate. One can always rely on him to contribute to a needy cause. He served as Secretary of the GCB for 17 years while Mr Singh was President and should have taken that opportunity to make his mark. Mr Panday supported all of Mr Chetram Singh’s ideas. He then is equally as responsible as Mr Singh for the current state of play. Mr Panday should consider passing on his knowledge and lending his skill to a younger person in the same way as he did after demitting office as President of Georgetown Cricket Association. The old brigade must bow out gracefully and give way to the new cadre of young capable cricket administrators a la Rosehall Town Youth and Sports Club.
3. Mr Bissoondyal Singh
Mr Bissoondyal Singh is a young, bright, energetic and very personable individual with excellent administrative skills who played the game of cricket. He manages his own business and has a passion for the game. He is willing to learn, he may make mistakes but it is up to us, the older heads, to assist him as we move forward.
I feel that the members, the delegates and the general public should rally around Mr Bissoondyal Singh. Support his team and support his programmes. Of the three he is our best choice for moving our cricket forward. Our cricket needs new young dynamic leadership.
Yours faithfully,
Claude Raphael