Former secretary of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB), Raj Singh was elected president of one faction of the DCB at the first of what was two DCB Annual General Meetings and elections held yesterday.
Singh was the only nomination for the presidential post.
Only two of the four groups of allocated delegates from the four sub-associations were present at the AGM, West Bank Demerara (14) and East Bank Demerara (14).
Standing in as returning officer for the AGM, in the place of president of the Guyana Olympic Association, K.A. Juman Yassin was Commander of ‘D’ Division and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Balram Persaud.
According to Singh, while addressing the delegates, Yassin declined the post of returning officer for the AGM because of the negative publicity generated by the two warring factions of the DCB leading up to the elections.
Persaud, prior to taking the nominations for the vacant DCB executive posts, said that it was sad to see the division that existed in the DCB which has been fuelled by disagreements between executives.
He added that apparently there will be two boards in Demerara at the end of the day [yesterday], “but whatever it is, I am sure that there will be a period of reconciliation and that some way or the other regardless of differences everyone will work together in the best interest of Guyana’s cricket.”
He added that he would “like to see proper accountability and people making themselves role models so as to lift Guyana’s cricket back to where it was.
“The competition is greater now because there are other developing sports in Guyana such as football, so it’s a greater challenge for those who administrate cricket to ensure that funding and finances are there,” said Persaud.
“Regardless of what happens today or in the future, executives need to identify a proposition and work with the best interest of cricket at heart. This fighting and rambling is detrimental to the game and it’s taking cricket nowhere. The young ones who want to compete cannot be influenced by what they are seeing so sometime or the other it has to stop,” Persaud added.
Wrapping up the AGM with his final address, Singh stated that the group of executives elected has the capacity to take Guyana’s cricket forward.
“I think that the group that we have here is well poised to take cricket forward and I’m very hopeful that within the next week or so, we will be able to have all of the legal rambling dismissed and focus totally on cricket being played on the cricket field rather than in the court room and I promise that I’ll put my best foot forward and try to take Demerara cricket to where it once was,” said Singh.
All the executives at yesterday’s elections at Wales were elected unopposed as they were no other candidates contesting the positions. They are:
Raj Singh (President), Anand Sanasie (Vice President), Alfred Mentore (Vice President), Krishna Mangal (Secretary), Dr. Robin Persaud (Assistant Secretary), Anand Kalladeen (Treasurer), Lalta Digamber (Assistant Treasurer), Rohan Sarjoo (Public Relations Officer), Colin Europe (Chairman of Competitions Committee), Ray Persaud (Marketing Officer).
