Legendary West Indies captain Clive Lloyd is optimistic that a bright future awaits Guyana’s cricket following yesterday’s meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo, Dr. Julian Hunte, president of the WICB, and Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony at State House.
Although Lloyd, Hunte and Anthony declined to comment on what transpired during the closed door meeting, Lloyd believes that the measures that were addressed can bring about a change, especially since he thinks that “Guyana’s cricket has been going down the drain for awhile.”
“…They (Government of Guyana) are thinking about putting things in place and just having a board that is not fragmented. I am quite happy, from things we have discussed, that things will be better for the future.
“It is time that somebody take charge and try to rebuild because we have a great past and we had some of the greatest cricketers coming from this region, not only from Georgetown but outside of Georgetown so really and truly we need to get back to that system and I hope when things are more or less settled that we will have by far a much better board that is looking after all aspects of the game,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd, 66, who played 110 Test matches, also stated that Guyana’s woeful on field performance for the past three years could be viewed in the context of what is being played out in the boardrooms.
He emphasised that since the executives are constantly in court that, can naturally affect the rhythm for cricketers.
“You can look at it that way. I think if you are in court and that sort of thing, it upsets the rhythm of what you should have and I think that eventually once everything is sorted out then we can concentrate on cricket because we have a lot of good young players and we need to get them to concentrate on the game and not worry about other things, and the officials too,” Lloyd explained.
On the other hand, Lloyd said that he is not one who is interested in a position but he wants to be involved in the development of cricket in the country.
The most successful West Indies captain said that he might be involved in this process, judging from yesterday’s meeting, and once he is involved he “just wants to see things run smoothly.”
He pointed out that he does not know what role he would play but he believes that more than likely it would be in an advisory capacity. On the other hand, when asked whether he was appointed as Advisor on Sport in Guyana, Lloyd said that will soon come out at a later date.
Meanwhile, in the Sport Ministry’s release it was stated that yesterday’s meeting discussed the recent ruling of Ian Chang, Chief Justice (ag) of Guyana with respect to the case filed against the GCB by Angela Haniff, Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and constituent member of the GCB.
This action was filed two weeks after the Ramsey Ali administration was elected to office on July 10. The release also pointed out that Hunte was “appraised of the situation and the measures that would be taken by the Government of Guyana to concur with the acting Chief Justice’s directions.
“A menu of measures was discussed. These would be finalized in a follow-up meeting that would be held within the next week.”
When Stabroek Sport tried to solicit a comment from Hunte he said that he will not be making a comment on the meeting.
He said that the media should wait on the statement from the ministry.
An Interim Management Committee (IMC) was formed last Thursday to govern the affairs of the embattled Guyana Cricket Board (GCB). This decision was made after Jagdeo saw Chief Justice Ian Chang’s ruling last week Monday that the GCB, which was formed in 1943, was not a legally constituted body.
The president noted that the IMC is a short-term plan and two persons from each of the county boards will be on the committee. It was also noted at the meeting that it is not the Government of Guyana’s wish to take over the running of cricket but rather to bring an end to the constant barrage of accusations of lawlessness and financial impropriety in the affairs of the board.
The decision meant that the recently-elected Ramsey Ali administration will not be able to carry out its mandate, especially under the circumstances that he and his executives’ election to office was rife with controversy. Sport Minister Anthony was named to head the IMC or he may appoint another official to head the IMC.
The IMC will be formed today and it is expected to be operational for about three months. The rationale behind this was to enable the problems to be solved as quickly as possible.
Jagdeo had stated that he wants the imbroglio to be swiftly ended, with the IMC appointed to examine and investigate all the accusations of financial impropriety and misuse of power by the divided GCB executive.
The chief justice had also ruled that the Demerara, Berbice and the Guyana cricket boards were not legally constituted.
The DCB had found itself in legal limbo after two factions had laid claim to being the legitimate administration to run the board which resulted in the court granting an order preventing both parties acting on behalf of the DCB.
The IMC will facilitate a process that can see fresh elections being held both at the GCB and DCB.
This will ensure that, according to what Jagdeo stated, the governance and administration of the game is transparent.
