The ruling in the High Court by Justice Fidela Corbin that the Executive Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is illegal, has reportedly resulted in the calling off of the scheduled April 6 hosting of the Inter-County Under–17 tournament.
The Anand Sanasie-controlled Board and Executives, along with Cricket Ombudsman Stephen Lewis, were slapped with the ruling on Wednesday at the High Court, following legal proceedings filed by attorney Arudranauth Gossai on behalf of Rabindranauth Saywack and the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB).
Saywack challenged the appointment of Lewis in May 2018, while the BCB challenged the legitimacy of the GCB following ‘purported’ elections in 2018 where Fizul Bacchus was elected President and Sanasie, the Secretary.
Following Wednesday’s development, a source close to the operations of the Board, revealed that the Inter-County Under–17 tournament scheduled to bowl off tomorrow, had to be postponed.
While the Board had not issued an official release to the media informing of the tournament, a manager for one of the Under-17 teams confirmed that he received a telephone call informing him of the postponement. The state-owned Guyana Chronicle, on April 1, had also reported that the tournament would have commenced on April 6.
Meanwhile, Justice Corbin’s ruling is set to have further implications for the 30 local cricketers who are part of the franchise structure.
Those players may be forced to down tools and lose revenue since one of the respondents in the matter is the Head Coach and Chairman of Selectors, Rayon Griffith.
With the postponement of the Under–17 tournament and the possibility of the franchise system being scrapped, for the time being, those may be part of the opportunity cost to hand the Board a fresh start.
However, BCB president Hilbert Foster, while admitting that he has been nonchalant in his posture towards the court case, is hoping that cricket is not further seriously affected.
“I haven’t been following all these court matters but I’m happy that the matter is finally being resolved… but I’m concerned that junior cricket in Guyana might be affected and the franchise players who earn may very well too,” Foster told Stabroek Sport.
He called on the interested parties in the impasse to put cricket first.
Sanasie, when contacted for a comment on the court ruling, said, “I’ll comment when I’m fully appraised on the matter.”
Many observers are of the view that Sanasie, who has been quite savvy in controlling the GCB, may now be clutching at straws.
The Board has a 28-day window to appeal the High Court ruling and ask for a stay of the decision. If a stay is granted, the GCB will be able to prolong the stalemate and continue the Board’s operations.
