Stating that a dark cloud was hovering over cricket in Guyana, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport today said that it will name a new date for elections to the Guyana Cricket Board following the aborting of yesterday’s proceedings.
A statement by the ministry follows:
The Ministry was advised that the election of the Guyana Cricket Board which was appointed to be the 26th February, 2021, was not completed. It is important to note that, pursuant to the Guyana Cricket Administration Act, once the Minister makes the respective appointments, i.e., the date for the election and the Cricket Ombudsman, the Minister has no further role to play unless the election was not completed. The Ministry was informed that the Cricket Ombudsman received a letter from an Attorney at law who raised matters in relation to the conduct of the election and the Cricket Ombudsman determined that in the interest of fairness the election ought to be postponed to afford the alleged aggrieved stakeholder an opportunity to be heard.
The Ministry will, consequently, engage the Cricket Ombudsman and the Attorneys at law for the relevant stakeholders and re-appoint a date for the Guyana Cricket Board election acting in accordance with the Guyana Cricket Administration Act.
The Ministry is not oblivious to the dark cloud hovering over Guyana’s cricket administration and recognises that this is an issue which must be settled expeditiously. All stakeholders must share that position and comply with the Cricket Administration Act. Cricket players and cricket lovers deserve better and the public can be assured that the Ministry is determined to bring closure to this issue.
Meanwhile, condemnation continues of the decision by the Ombudsman to postpone the elections on what has been seen as a spurious delay tactic by the Essequibo board. President of the Berbice Cricket Board, Hilbert Foster made the following post on his Facebook page:
It pays to be a lazy, visionless and unproductive cricket administrator in Guyana. I cannot imagine that people would honestly accept positions as an executive and just sit back ,do nothing to make a positive difference and just blindly support one person ambition at all cost. Once, you accept a position offered to you, you have a duty to work your head off to make sure that the game of cricket develops under your leadership and more importantly, the players benefits .Yesterday, had to be one of the saddest days in the history of Guyana Cricket but i would like to urge the BCB and DCB to remain focused .As someone told me yesterday, the end part of a successful struggle is always the most difficult. One of my late Grandmother favorite quote was that the longest rope has an end.
To those administrators whose only interest is to get positions for personal glory, please think of the little kids who wants to use sports as an avenue to get out of poverty and to stay away from drugs, crime and violence. Please let history remember you as a developer of cricket not a destroyer and let us work hard to make sure that every dream in the heart of a youth becomes reality. Gudakesh Motie, Shimron Hetmeyer, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair,Shemaine Campbelle and Shabika Gajnabi dreams were fulfilled because they had leaders in their clubs who supported them along the way and were happy for them to succeed I want to reassure all Berbicians that despite the disappointment of yesterday, your cricket board would continue to work hard and that 2021 would be the best year in our eighty one years history. I am very proud of my entire executive for their unwavering support. and dedication .I am very proud to be your President and of the progress we have made, over the last three years as a collective body.
Hilbert Foster
