The Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies has requested that the all preparations for the 40-overs-a-side, second-division competition be suspended immediately.
Last week the company handed over a cheque for an undisclosed sum of money to the president of the Demerara Cricket Board Raj Singh for the staging of a second-division limited overs competition.
Yesterday, at a press conference held at the Sleepin International Hotel, Director and Fire Manager of Hand-in-Hand Howard Cox said that the company was concerned about the “issues and legal developments affecting the Demerara Cricket Board.”
This follows a letter to hand-in-Hand from East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) head Bissoondyal Singh and Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) President Roger Harper.
“As a sponsor of cricket and especially this competition for over 30 years, it would have been more beneficial for us to have received these documents much earlier,” Cox stated in his reply to Harper and Singh adding that he was concerned over the reputation of his company.
Hand-in-Hand also expressed the hope of resuming the competition later this year but conceded that this may only be possible if there is collaboration among all involved parties.
Harper and Singh stressed that potential sponsors need to be made aware of the ramifications of their association with a cricket board they believe is illegal describing the current situation as “unabated lawlessness in Demerara Cricket.”
The competition would have featured club teams from each of the four entities of Demerara cricket; East Bank, East Coast, Georgetown and West Demerara.
Also in attendance at yesterday’s press conference were Clive Lloyd, head of the Interim Management Committee set up Government of Guyana and Claude Raphael, a former member of the Guyana Cricket Board.
