Dear Editor,
I am penning this letter after reading a bundle of nonsense written by the so called “majority stakeholders”. Five years after the passage of the Cricket Administration Act (CAA), the CWI and our Minister responsible for Sports have finally reached agreement on a name for the position of Cricket Ombudsman and as expected the “stakeholders” again have a problem. It is time the nonsense stops. I fully support the Minister’s appointment, which cannot be changed by anyone as it is a one-off decision as stipulated in the CAA. It is even crazier to be asking the President to rescind the appointment, what next? Take it back to parliament? Or maybe ask the next elected President to reconsider the appointment? When the GCB appointed the Ombudsman, court actions were filed claiming the Minister has to do the appointment. Now the Minister has made the appointment it is a problem because of which club the man was a member, or who his associates are, well we live in a small, closed society so what else is expected? The first Ombudsman, Mr. McGowan, was a close friend of many “stakeholders”, even served for 20 years on the GCB Cricket Development Committee with Claude Raphael as chairman. The stakeholders agreed with this PPP/C government appointee, why not now?
When we progress it is expected that those responsible for such success be recognized. I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Sanasie and the GCB for the effective management of Guyana’s cricket which has produced the most consistent results in the history of our nation’s most popular sport.
As a usual critic of the GCB, I must admit that those who oppose them lack the knowledge and ability to do a better job. More so, the dedication of Mr. Sanasie to ensure Guyana’s cricket is on the right path especially his recent intervention, despite apparent court orders to shut down the GCB, to ensure our Under 17 Competition was played. Time and time again I have written to criticize the GCB but that position has come an end, the GCB has prevailed against the challenges and against all odds our game is in good hands. I’m making it clear that myself and the North Essequibo Cricket Committee are no longer part of the group calling themselves “majority stakeholders”, as we are of the opinion that they are not interested in progress. I call on everyone to follow the path of proven success.
To say that the so-called “stakeholders” can do better would be hypocritical when in fact, they have not mirrored the same level of success in their own area of responsibility. In the East Coast of Demerara a group calling themselves East Coast Cricket Committee manages the cricket yet a so-called stakeholder claims all the best cricketers come out of there or Georgetown. Neither GCA nor ECCB has sent an age group team to participate in Demerara Cricket Board’s cricket in six years, same for GCA under Roger Harper. The real stakeholders are those people that bring together the youths in these areas for the last six years. Are we really interested in the youths and Guyana’s cricket?
The way in which Mr. Sanasie has executed his mandate to govern our cricket, considering he does not have a relative playing the game is commendable. I was also informed that he is an exemplary director at CWI and highly respected. Thanks again Mr. Sanasie, you and the GCB have the support of North Essequibo and myself any time of the day.
We must all support Guyanese cricket and this unreasonable nonsense in the court must come to an end. I also commend Minister George Norton for finally taking a stand and appointing the cricket ombudsman. These issues ought to be resolved sooner rather than later to let cricket in Guyana continue to flourish. Those that are afraid to go to elections in their Associations and Committees will have a problem when the Ombudsman arrives. Start the verification process.
Yours faithfully,
Prince Holder,
President of North Essequibo Cricket
Committee
