(Trinidad Guardian) Sports Minister Anil Roberts yesterday said he was moving to end all hostilities—real or imagined—between himself and the T&T Cricket Board, so that the best interest of the sport will be served. To this end, the Minister yesterday scheduled a meeting with the Board’s president Azim Bassarath for Monday morning at his Ministry. Minister Roberts and Bassarath has endured a strained relationship since last year’s Champions League in which Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo failed to represent T&T but the Minister maintained the country must be represented by its best players at all times. On Monday night, both Minister Roberts and Bassarath were at Piarco to welcome members of the victorious T&T cricket team following their victory in the Caribbean T20 tournament. During their welcoming addresses, the pair appeared to publicly bury the hatchet. “All I want is for the best interest of T&T’s sport to be served,” Minister Roberts said yesterday, “and if a meeting with Mr Bassarath…or any other head of a sporting organisation would achieve that, I would welcome such a meeting.” The Minister who recently stopped all Ministry of Sports funding for the T&TCB and called for the resignation of Bassarath, agreed that they should thrash out the issues which placed a dark cloud over the sport.
He said he received a call from Bassarath late yesterday and the meeting was agreed.
The reception for the victorious cricketers was the first public function both Bassarath and Roberts have attended together and the minister quickly put to rest the tension between himself and the embattled cricket chief by suggesting the meeting. Minister Roberts said it was his belief that T&T should always seek to have its best players representing the country. “I make no apologies for wanting Pollard and Bravo on our T20 team for the Champions League. Whatever it takes to have them play, I am sure the people of T&T will be happy to provide it.” The Minister said this will be one of the grey areas to clear up at Monday’s meeting. He said that Government fully supported the national team and vowed that there will be no repeat of what he termed a “miscommunication” which saw Pollard and Bravo opting out of national duty to play for their IPL franchises in the 2011 Nokia T20 Championships. “Let me tell you right now, all those players with IPL contracts please come to us and let us sit down and negotiate so that you will play for your country not have to play for a foreign club. Because let’s face it. You can’t expect a professional player to give up millions to wear the red, white and black,” Minister Roberts said.
He said that those who criticise the players for being “unpatriotic” are wrong and called for everyone to show respect to them as they go about earning a living. “Professional athletes must be shown respect. What people should do is attend matches and spend their money on events organised by the Cricket Board so that the players will benefit for they have families to support also,” said Minister Roberts. On Monday night, the Minister presented a token of appreciation to each player and members of the technical committee which accompanied the team at the Caribbean T20 Championships valued at TT$25,000. And in a response to the West indies Cricket Board’s decision to not offer Bravo and Pollard a retainer contract, minister Roberts said that both players will be added to his ministry’s elite list of athletes. Earlier Bassarath made a stirring plea for Minister Roberts to sit down and discuss the problems between the Ministry of Sport and the T&TCB.
