Dear Editor,
The residents of the Manchester/Ulverston area would like to express our disgust at the incompetence of the Guyana Cricket Board that affected our young villager, Sylus Tyndall, from travelling to Jamaica to represent his county in the West Indies Cricket Board Under-15 tournament. Editor, Sylus is from a very poor family, who did everything possible to obtain the necessary cricket equipment, national passport and other items, only to be disappointed owing to neglect of duties by officials of the Guyana Cricket Board.
1. Sylus’s father took his passport to the Guyana Cricket Board official and was told to leave it there. He was advised that the passport was in good hands and would be handed over to the Manager.
2. The father contacted the team Manager, who also assured Mr Tyndall that the passport was in safe hands and he would uplift same.
3. The team assembled at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport for departure, and only then did the Manager discover that Sylus’s passport had not been collected.
4. The team along with the manager and coach checked in to travel and a very disappointed and frustrated Sylus was left alone to find his way back to Georgetown. Mr Tyndall received a phone call to collect his son at 4 pm.
5. A kind parent of one of Sylus’s teammate who had taken his child to the airport was compassionate enough to transport him back to Georgetown. The parent was also kind enough to assist Sylus financially.
6. A very upset Mr Tyndall Sr visited the Guyana Cricket Board the next day and it took the officials there over 40 minutes to find the passport after a very long search.
7. Sylus was then allowed to stay at the Guyana Cricket Board Hostel on the East Coast with a commitment that he would fly out shortly. Poor Sylus never heard from Guyana Cricket Board officials again, and despite numerous phone calls from his father, nothing was done. One cricket official told Mr Tyndall that he was being disgusting to call so often and advised him to put wings on his son to fly him to Jamaica.
8. After staying at the hostel for over five days and with no solution in mind, Sylus was brought back home to Manchester by his father.
Editor, the Guyana Cricket Board has left a young promising cricketer heartbroken and fed up. Another promising cricketer might give up the game because of administrators whose only interest is themselves, the benefits of the office and directorship of the WICB. The Guyana Cricket Board owes the Tyndall family and the Big Star Cricket Club an apology, and the officials responsible should be fired immediately.
The Guyana Cricket Board should also refund the Tyndall family all their expenses or face a legal civil matter. The sad part of this entire matter was the carefree attitude of the Guyana Cricket Board officials who were all present at the National Stadium enjoying the perks of being a cricket official while a young man’s dream was destroyed.
Yours faithfully,
Pamela Manns