Dear Editor,
Bish Panday ought to be elected as the President of the Guyana Cricket Board at the end of this month. He is an experienced administrator, a fine communicator and well known to the regional cricket administrators in the West Indies. Above all, he is a man of vision and sound integrity.
I first interacted with Bish on casual level back in 1998. The West Indies players were on strike in London prior to our inaugural tour of South Africa.
We had a serious discussion of the issues at the Georgetown Cricket Club and Bish was most impressive with his knowledge of the facts of the situation. Furthermore, his clarity of thinking and balanced judgment were clear indications that he had fine leadership qualities. I returned to New York and conveyed to several cricket administrators that Bish would one day be a worthy successor to Chetram Singh as the President of the GCB. They were in full agreement with my assessment of ‘Da Man’ for they had also independently formed the same opinion as I had.
I had a working association with Bish in 2005. I was researching an aspect of the West Indies Cricket Board’s constitution for a WICB official. Chetram Singh, the outgoing President of the GCB was kind enough to arrange for me to meet with Bish. We did so at his office in Georgetown. I found him quite personable and his knowledge of the inner workings of the WICB most impressive. He had promised me additional materials and true to his word he had it for me when I subsequently called upon him. This working relationship with Bish elevated my estimation of ‘Da Man’ and it has increased over the years.
The moment for the GCB and Bish is now. With 25 years of business experience and as a man of impeccable integrity, Bish is a worthy successor to Chetty, to whom we are most grateful for his 17 years of dedicated service. Bish is interested in the presidency because he is a faithful servant of Guyana and West Indies cricket. I urge all the constituents to carefully assess all the candidates on their respective merits before casting a vote. I am sure each of you will arrive at the same conclusion as I did: Bish is ‘Da Man.’
Yours faithfully,
Vijay P Kumar
