Guyana’s cricket yesterday became even more shrouded in controversy after the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the government-implemented Interim Management Committee released 31-man and 30-man squads respectively for the upcoming Regional four-day tournament that bowls off on February 3.
This latest development leaves more unanswered questions, particularly whether Guyana will be able to participate in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) competition when day/ night tournament which will see the return of pink balls commences February 3.
In the squad sent out by IMC’s Secretary Joy Limerick, out-of-favour West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been named captain and all the players are asked to assemble at the Sport Ministry today at 13:00 hours.
And in another twist of events sacked national coach Mark Harper is back at the helm while once-sacked-then-rehired national coach, for the just-concluded Caribbean T20 tournament, Rabindranauth Seeram, has been relegated to the position of Assistant Coach.
Guyana’s first match is scheduled to be against the Leeward Islands at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
On the other hand, in the email from the GCB it was noted that while the provisional squad was named “Guyana’s participation in the tournament is in doubt as the Cricket Board remains locked out of its offices at the GCC Ground, Bourda.” General Secretary of the GCB Anand Sanasie said yesterday that “the current situation is a dire one and if things do not change dramatically this week we run the risk of the Guyana Match at the National Stadium scheduled for February 3 being cancelled or at least moved from our venue.”
Sanasie, who is also a director on the WICB, said that directors of the Caribbean’s governing body “will be speaking later this week with a view to assessing the situation as it relates to Guyana’s participation in the tournament, along with other matters relevant to the current situation here.”
According to the statement coming from the GCB, it was the hope of the executive that the talks with the government, WICB and GCB that were facilitated by the Caricom Secretariat on January 11, would have resulted in GCB having access to the offices and resources for the team to continue preparation for the tournament. However, it was stated that the agreement reached by the parties “has not yet been signed by the parties.
“The WICB and the GCB stand ready to sign the agreement in its current form and await the Government representatives’ consultations with its principals”, the GCB statement read.
Locks were placed on the doors of the GCB offices by officials of the Sport Ministry last month following the establishment of the IMC.
The GCB had also organized three practice matches for this month.
IMC Squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan- Captain, Davendra Bishoo, Rajendra Chandrika, VeerasammyPermaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Brandon Bess, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ransford Beaton, Trevon Griffith, Totaram Bishun, Narsingh Deonarine, Amir Khan, Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Clinton Pestano, Christopher Barnwell, Raj Nanan, Royton Crandon, Eugene La Fleur, Gajanand Singh, Paul Wintz, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Keon Joseph, Darwin Christian, Zaheer Mohamed, Vishal Singh, Richard Ramdeen, Anthony Bramble and Shemroy Barrington.
Manager: Carl Moore, Coach: Mark Harper, Assistant Coach: Rabindranauth Seeram
GCB Squad: S. Chattergoon, R. Chandrika, T. Griffith, S. Barrington, L. Johnson, S. Chanderpaul, C. Hemraj, N. Deonarine, R. Sarwan, A. Fudadin, R. Crandon, C. Barnwell, D. Christian, S. Jacobs, D. Bishoo, V. Permaul, A. Khan, T. Bishun, B. Bess, K. Joseph, R. Beaton, P. Wintz, Gajanand Singh, Vishal Singh, N. Fredricks, Rajiv Ivan, S. Latcha, A. Bramble, J. Sinclair, Z. Mohammed, E. Baker
