Dear Editor,
The Parliamentary Select Committee (SC) on the Cricket Administration Bill has failed miserably to fulfil its mandate, which, initially, was to provide for the legalization of the Guyana Board which could only have been completed by granting the Board corporate status. It then, inexplicably, decided to expand its mandate to deal with a voter allocation issue within the Demerara Cricket Board. This is tantamount to interfering with a legal body of members governed by its own rules and constitution. Surely, such an august body as this SC should not be changing the constitution of a duly constituted body without the full agreement of its membership and furthermore outside of its rules and constitution. What example is being set by this committee in the hallowed halls of our esteemed Parliament? This is not the required solution for the DCB matter. The solution should not be legislated or politicized. A proper investigation of the events leading up to the 2 AGMs in January 2011 is needed to resolve this perceived problem.
First of all, this Select Committee has been tainted with bias and partiality from the inception with 2 of its key members having played very active roles in the whole manufactured cricket fiasco. The Chair of the SC, Dr Frank Anthony, was the Minister directly responsible for disbanding the GCB and installing an IMC and illegally locking the offices of the GCB. An unholy amount of taxpayers’ money was wasted on these acts. The other key member, Attorney General Anil Nandlall was the attorney for a grouping attacking the DCB and the GCB during of the cricket fiasco prior to being named the AG, and unsuccessfully represented that faction in several of those cricket matters, some of which are still pending in court. How can these individuals be deemed impartial? In fact, these two Ministers should have recused themselves from serving on this committee with the perception of bias and conflict of interest hanging over their heads. It is worthwhile to mention that these court matters are still pending.
AG Nandlall was also responsible for the legal actions that searched several GCB officers’ homes and offices, and seized the equipment and records of the GCB. These coercive actions partially achieved their ends since several GCB officers resigned from their positions in cricket administration. There were numerous other types of harassment exercised through the arms of the state in its quest to take over cricket administration, and constant harassment and ridicule in the media and otherwise. How can this Select Committee produce an impartial document when they have been deeply involved in the problem from the inception?
The GCB just finished hosting the Pakistanis in Guyana and for the first time in 2 years we saw international cricket returned to Guyana. The public felt satisfied. Dr Anthony even made presentations after the matches. Everything is not perfect now as Guyana’s cricket has been set back by almost 5 years by the disgruntled group who are masquerading around the place claiming that they have total control over the politicians. Are we now going to set back cricket administration even further? Surely, the legitimate Boards are going to contest this abomination of an Act. The GOG has gotten what they wanted; Bobby Ramroop, now owns the Guyana team and is the title sponsor for one of the most lucrative forms of cricket, T20. The GCB will continue with its mandate to produce cricketers for all forms of the game of cricket even if it means being the nursery for others. We hope they do recognize this. We say to the Select Committee that they need to await the outcome of the court matters and have an impartial investigation done into the DCB AGMs of 2011. Otherwise, hands off the cricket administration!
Yours faithfully,
Intikhab Sankar
