The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has scheduled a directors’ meeting in St Lucia this weekend and the current situation here as regards the formation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to run the affairs of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is one of the very prominent items on the agenda.
This was confirmed to the newspaper by WICB public relations officer Imran Khan via telephone. Asked if the WICB meeting was scheduled mainly because of the situation here in Guyana, Khan said that this wasn’t the case, but rather it is one of three major items on the agenda.
“The WICB would call such meetings when it deems it necessary and the current issue with [the GCB] is going to be discussed among other things. Also the WICB is very likely to put out a press release elaborating on the results of that meeting,” Khan explained.
GCB President Ramsey Ali and Secretary Anand Sanasie, both of whom are WICB directors, left the country yesterday morning for the meeting, according to GCB sources.
On Wednesday GCB lawyer Sanjeev Datadin moved to the courts to quash the government’s decision to set up the IMC, arguing that it was the height of government interference. Since the GCB is a private association, the lawyer argued, the government, through its Sport Ministry has no basis to set up the IMC.
Meanwhile, owing to the current impasse in the GCB, Guyana’s participation in the 2012 Caribbean Twenty20 tournament scheduled for January 10-23 in Barbados and Antigua is in doubt. According to GCB cricket development officer Robin Singh, this is since the government has seized control of the GCB office.
When contacted for a comment on this, Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, said he is not involved in this matter in any way and directed this newspaper to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Alfred King. Calls to the office went unanswered.
Veteran cricket commentator Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira said in a recent interview that high-level WICB sources had informed him that the fixtures for the 2011/12 first-class season scheduled to commence in February were being drafted with Guyana being left out of the frame.
Seized
“The state has seized the Guyana Cricket Board office, so currently we in the GCB have no way of accessing what we need to properly conduct the Guyana team’s preparation for the Caribbean T20 tournament,” Singh said.
“However we intend to and have a backup plan to try and work out of the office, since the players have been training at the LBI hostel recently. But basically due to this Guyana’s preparation in the T20 has been put in doubt and I’m extremely upset and disappointed about this given that a lot of effort… [was made] over the last 3-4 months to …run a local Twenty/20 tournament (Carib/Pepsi T20 tournament) and now the national camp,” a distraught Singh said.
The GCB had called 35 players for mandatory fitness tests on January 4, 2012 along with resumption of the Twenty20 tournament camp. Three-trial matches in
preparation for the Regional 4-day tournament in February were also planned.
Strife
Amid deep and prolonged strife among local cricket groups, the Sport Ministry last week unveiled an interim management body for cricket with renowned former Guyanese and West Indian cricketer Clive Lloyd as the head of the team.
The Interim Management Committee will comprise fifteen members. Eight of them will come from the previously recognized boards. Of the eight persons, two would be drawn from Berbice, two would represent Essequibo, two would represent the previously recognized Guyana Cricket Board and one representative each would come from the factions of the Demerara Board.
Minister Frank Anthony has also appointed the following persons to serve on the committee: attorney Edward Luckhoo, former Works Minister Anthony Xavier, retired army head Norman McLean, chartered accountant Harry Parmesar and Permanent Secretary in the sport ministry, Alfred King. A seventh person is to be named shortly.
The ministry said the IMC’s mandate encompasses:
* The drafting of a new constitution, which will be presented to all county boards and other stakeholders for their deliberations and adoption.
* The drafting of legislation with the relevant stakeholders that would be tabled in parliament.
* The development and implementation of a cricket development programme at the national and regional levels.
* The reconciliation of the factions of the Demerara Board into one Demerara Board.
* To conduct an immediate review on the status of all financial transactions by an independent auditor.
* Other issues that the IMC may deem pertinent to the development of cricket in Guyana.
The ministry said that the IMC will be in place for six months. During this period it will report on a monthly basis to the Minister of Sport. Upon completion of its work the committee will report on its major findings, make recommendations and “invite an authority with competence in electoral matters to hold elections for office bearers at both the Regional and National levels.”
