While the victorious women T20 cricketers were being feted in various parts of the Caribbean, the two Guyanese members of the team arrived at the Ogle airport on Wednesday without a government official showing up and the Director of Sport yesterday cast most of the blame for this on the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
The medal-bearing Tremayne Smartt and Shemaine Campbell were met at the airport by the Chairman of the senior selection panel of the GCB, Rayon Griffith and another official.
Director of Sport, Christopher Jones is the key sport official in the APNU+AFC government and was apparently caught napping on Wednesday even though it was widely known that the team which won the T20 tournament for the first time in India was due to arrive in Barbados that day.
At a hurriedly called press conference yesterday after he was soundly criticized on social media, Jones blasted the GCB for what he called a “vindictive” move in not notifying him of the arrival of the duo.
He said that information on the arrival of the pair was never conveyed to the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Jones however accepted some responsibility that he should have been more proactive in determining the arrival but said it seemed like a malicious act by the board who he had had a good relationship with up until this point. “Firstly, my heartfelt apologies on behalf of the NSC, the Government and People of Guyana for not affording them the hero’s welcome they so rightfully deserve”.
“We were fully aware that two female Guyanese were members in the team and we were eagerly awaiting their arrival to welcome and honour them. The Guyana Cricket Board … is the authority in Guyana as it relates to cricket whether Women, Men, Under 19, 17, 15”.
He continued, “They would have been the recipients of the itinerary of the two players just as they would have been for the others but for reasons best known to the GCB this information was withheld from the Government and the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”, said Jones.
The former Member of Parliament also defended his work, highlighting instances where he ensured that local athletes received good send-offs as well as receptions. “I have been adamant that athletes leaving these shores are ambassadors of our nation and as such must be treated with dignity and respect and my record would demonstrate this”.
Furthermore, Jones said “It is time” the GCB got their things in order and withdraw their current injunctions in court so they can finally have an election. “Well as you know I was a former member of parliament. I had the opportunity to sit on the select committee as it relates to the Cricket Administration Bill, so I’m integrally aware of all the issues raised by several factions as it relates to cricket”.
“Ever since the passage of the bill and subsequently the injunction filed by the GCB and a representative of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) who came to Guyana and raised their objections as well, the bill has never been revisited, moreso (because of) the injunction which was filed by the GCB”.
“I think it’s time that the government revisit that bill, I think it’s time the GCB which has been speaking about wanting elections to be held, I think they should withdraw their injunctions which they currently have pending in the courts so we can proceed to the elections, it is time”.
With an ongoing row between the WICB and the players spilling into the open after Captain Darren Sammy’s comments at the post-match ceremony of the ICC World T20 Cup finals won by the Caribbean side, Jones believed that CARICOM should step in.
“I have had the opportunity to speak with CARICOM heads via a teleconference at the secretariat and of course the views by (Grenadian Prime Minister) Keith Mitchell and (Vincentian Prime Minister) Ralph Gonsalves, I equally support. … it is time the Caribbean heads fix the problem at the WICB because it’s a ripple effect we’re seeing at our level at the GCB”, he said.
GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie when contacted yesterday, was a man of few words. When asked for his take on the situation, he replied “The entire world knows the West Indies (women) won the World Cup”.
