The Berbice Cricket Board has expressed frustration with the decision of Cricket West Indies not to approve the Roy Fredericks Cup T20 competition and to debar national players from playing in the competition.
According to a release from the BCB, “Blairmont CC [cricket club] recently applied for permission for a fund-raising match and was not given permission despite applying to CWI [Cricket West Indies].
“To make matters worse, they were informed on the morning of the match that no GCB contracted player or National Under 15, 17 or 19 cricketer can play in the match,” the release stated.
Organizer of the competition and Blairmont Cricket Club President, Shabeer Baksh, said that they had applied to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) through their administrator and was referred to CWI on June 15 but did not receive any feedback.
He said that it was the Umpires Association who informed them that the tournament had not received approval and that the national players would not be allowed to participate.
Baksh stated that while he did not make any attempt to contact CWI on the matter, he had asked the GCB to “put in a good word.”
Baksh said had they been aware that the tournament had not been approved prior to the event the club could have put things in place in order to cushion the losses incurred.
Meanwhile, a source in the GCB said an application was issued through the administrator and was tabled in a meeting of the body where it was concluded that there should be an application to CWI since there was an international match the following day in Guyana.
“When they wrote to the GCB, they wrote to the administrator and wanted it to be on the 21 (July) with international cricket on the July 22. The issue was raised in a meeting and he was advised on the process of applying to host the competition. They were applying at a certain level because they included a team from Georgetown,” the GCB source said adding that had they been granted approval from CWI, there would be no objection from GCB.
Baksh said they had been granted permission to stage the event the previous two years but this year was different and needed approval from the higher level since they included a team from Demerara which eventually pulled out because of the high amount of players barred from participation.
The GCB source said it was only logical that the players would not participate in “unapproved cricket” since their participation would have warranted a significant sanction.
According to the CWI website, there is a process for approved cricket and pre-approved cricket as they body expressed its desire to “be proactive in its role of overseeing cricket in the region.
“The WICB [West Indies Cricket Board] takes very seriously it’s responsibility in overseeing cricket in the West Indies and as such we are making public the list of approved cricket so that there can be no doubt by any stakeholder as to what matches or events are approved by the WICB,” then WICB CEO Dr. Ernest Hillaire had outlined.
“As the sole governing authority for cricket in the West Indies the WICB is directly responsible for all cricket arranged and played in the region at all levels. The approvals for cricket in the region, which took effect from August 1 2010 are in accordance with the Regulations on Approved and Disapproved Cricket and Domestic Cricket Events of the ICC which came into effect on June 1st 2009,” the document stated.
The BCB voiced its concern with the situation.
“We are very concerned that Berbice clubs cannot play their own players in matches to raise funds for themselves. Why must we then continue to produce outstanding players, if they become properties of the GCB after they become national players?
“The clubs and their own parents become simple spectators and loses any rights to an organization that played no role in their development,” the BCB argued stating that as a result, the Blairmont CC suffered great financial losses due to the big names like Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble and Clinton Pestano being unable to play.
The BCB stated that it was very concerned about this development while the GCB official explained that there are a certain limit of T20 tournaments that can be approved and as a result, the board tries to spread it evenly across the three counties.
Baksh said all parties involved only wanted the betterment of cricket in Guyana pointing out that the fundraiser was to kick start the development of the first indoor facility in the county as they continue to produce players to represent Guyana and the West Indies.
