It seems as if Guyana cricket is back on track after several years because the officials were fighting among themselves as to who should be given the right to govern. There have been allegations of fraud and wrong-doing, so much so the issues ended up in the Courts as far as the Guyana Court of Appeal. And because of that battle Guyana was not represented at last Sunday’s Annual General Meeting of Cricket West Indies; as a result the meeting was adjourned because of a lack of a quorum – Barbados also failed to send representatives to that important meeting. It seems to me that the problem is now resolved, because at long last, the Guyana Cricket Board successfully held its elections last Monday (the day after the CWI meeting) in which Bissoondyal Singh was elected President and Hilbert Foster, President of the Berbice Cricket Board, named as Vice President. Secretary is Ronald Williams and former West Indies captain and star batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, elected as Chairman of the Selection Committee for the senior team.
Reports state now that Anand Sanasie is no longer an executive member of the GCB, the Board can move forward smoothly. Sanasie was secretary of the GCB for a number of years and threw his hat in the ring in contention for the CWI Presidency – opposing the incumbent Ricky Skerritt. I wrote a piece last week contending that it was high time that a Guyanese be at the helm of the CWI, but while several bloggers agree for a Guyanese, it was felt that Sanasie was not the best person for the top post. One letter writer, Amir Khan, made a few valid points — some of which I was not aware of – (a) the Guyana Cricket Board was deemed illegal by Ministers of Sports from two different administrations (which was confirmed by the Guyana Court of Appeal) (b) withholding of subvention to the Berbice Cricket Board. I want to make it quite clear I never rooted/supported Sanasie per se to be President of CWI, I was advocating for a Guyanese. When the CWI meeting reconvenes on Sunday April 11, Sanasie will not be there because the GCB has new representatives to the CWI meeting and as a result his candidacy for the Presidency will be moot.
The new President Bissoondyal Singh has cricket at heart and he is above board and will do an excellent job. Vice President Hilbert Foster is a “go getter”, he has been doing a tremendous job for Berbice Cricket during the past four years. He is a man of vision, very dedicated; I supported him when he was elected and was instrumental in getting the support of a few of my friends including Dr. Tulsi Singh, his brother Dr.Puran Singh, and businessman Brian Ramphal, who made significant financial support to the Board, as well assistance from Mc Sood Amjad, who is based in St. Martin and Vernon Thorne, formerly of New Amsterdam, now residing in Maryland, US. The announcement by cricket legend Shivnarine Chandeerpaul that he is willing to work along with the new Board will certainly be a boost for Guyana Cricket. Bear in mind that Ramnaresh Sarwan is chairman of the selection committee. It is high time that Guyana move forward to bring back glory to the summer game that we enjoyed in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and onwards. Unfortunately the young folks did not see our stars like Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Clive Lloyd, Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks, Alvin Kalicharran, Joe Solomon et al.
I sincerely would like to see Guyana cricket prosper. I was the youngest elected secretary (1965) of the Berbice Cricket Board; I also covered international cricket throughout the region including Antigua, St. Kitts, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, and St. Vincent etc., I also had the pleasure of witnessing an ODI match at Lords, the headquarters of cricket.
Sincerely,
Oscar Ramjeet
Former Secretary of the Berbice
Cricket Board
