Dear Editor,
On Saturday, April 7, umpires Ernest and Lux declared that the matches fixed for the day would have to be postponed due to inclement weather. However, all teams waited at the Cornelia Ida ground hoping that the winds would blow away the dark clouds. This did not happen, but it did not stop Organizing Secretary of the Guyana Softball League Leonard Harprashad declaring that the match between Progressive from La Grange and Invaders from CI would go on as scheduled, while the other fixed match was postponed.
During the Invaders’ innings there was sunshine with slight showers, thus allowing the team to put up a score of 138 on the board. This slight shower soon became a downpour during Progressive’s innings, which turned the outer field to slush and soon flooded the pitch. However, Harprashad proclaimed that the match would continue. Granted, he may be a member of the Guyana Softball League, but was this really his call to make? Shouldn’t all games have been called off on Saturday due to the heavy rainfall?
As the afternoon continued, Progressive were batting their way to victory when members of the fielding side spread sand around the wickets and along the pitch’s length, which hampered the ball’s steady flow from bowler to batsman. By what right did they do this? Is this sportsmanship? Was this even cricket?
Soon after that, visibility of the ball was poor, so that both players and umpires were unaware of the ball’s location. Standing in the pavilion, with dark enfolding the grounds, spectators began to comment about the organizer allowing the match to continue. Had there been floodlights at the ground, one would have understood continuing the match, but there were none. The point as one lady put it was “cheatingness.”
When Progressive were unable to make the runs in the ten overs due to sodden clothes, blinded batsmen and dreary weather, their supporters were understandably upset, and so they set out to take Mr Harprashad to task, commenting on his poor decision to allow the match to be played while Progressive were at a disadvantage. Mr Harprashad responded in a very unprofessional way. Instead of calling off the match from the start, Mr Harprashad announced that it will go on as scheduled. Instead of doing the right thing and postponing the match until there was better weather, he failed to do so. Instead of calming the crowds, he riled them up with his unprofessionalism. Is this what the members of GT&T and The Guyana Softball League do?
The fact of the matter is the semi-final match in the West Demerara zone between CI’s Invaders and La Grange’s Progressive should be a rematch; it should be rescheduled and replayed.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)