A teleconference among the Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) today will likely decide whether the June 26-30 New Zealand Test match will be held here.
Doubt over the scheduled Test match has arisen because of the ongoing dispute between the WICB and the Guyana Government over the management of cricket here.
Passage of the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill 2012 this month has brought matters to a head. On the signing into law of this bill, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) will cease to exist. The WICB has a major problem with this and other parts of the bill which it conceives as gross governmental interference in the business of one of its territorial boards.
The WICB and the GCB on one hand and the government on the other have battled for over two years for control of cricket here. When the government established an interim body headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd to run the game, the WICB simply withdrew international cricket from Guyana. Last year, the WICB restored cricket here following a rapprochement between the two sides. The passage of the bill without addressing the objections of the WICB has however re-ignited the divide between the two sides, threatening the staging of the NZ Test.
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Manager, Marketing and Communications Imran Khan confirmed yesterday that discussions surrounding the state of cricket in Guyana will be held today.
Khan, via email said that the WICB Board of Directors is scheduled to meet by teleconference this afternoon at 15:00hrs to discuss recent developments, adding that the WICB is likely to “have a statement” released following the meeting.
WICB President Dave Cameron was in Guyana earlier this week and met with cricketing and government officials including Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony. Stabroek Sport was unable to contact Anthony yesterday for comment on these meetings.
The division between the two sides has been further compounded by a court ruling banning the present GCB executive from operating.
The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) had challenged the validity of the elections of the GCB held in January 2013 which was observed by the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Imran Khan, Paul Slowe and Conde Riley.
On consideration in Chambers of the plaintiffs’ case and after hearing counsel from both sides, Justice Sandra Kurtzious earlier this month also barred all of the defendants from representing Guyana at the West Indies Cricket Board.
GCB President Durbahadur, executives Fizul Bacchus, Anand Sanasie, Virendra Chintamanie, Anand Kalladeen, Rajesh Singh, Rajendra Singh, Colin Europe, Andy Ramnarine, Lalta Digamber, Ramdeo Kumar, Rayon Griffith, Nazimul Drepaul, Savitri Persaud and Alfred Mentore were named as the defendants.
The plaintiffs are BCB members Keith Foster, Anil Beharry, Shabeer Baksh, Hubern Evans, Julian Cambridge, Angela Haniff, Raymond Haniff, and Romash Munna.
