By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – President Donald Ramotar believes the recent actions by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), to deny Guyana from hosting the test match against New Zealand at the Guyana National Stadium, was done so as to protect vested interest as it relates to the large sums of money involved in the game.
At a news conference on Saturday, June 07, Ramotar said there is no justifiable reason for shifting the venue for the match to the Kensington Oval, Barbados; adding that the WICB ‘s arrogance is unbelievable as he pointed to the significant investments government have made in this regard.
The WICB had claimed that there was too much interference in local cricket with the recently approved Cricket Administration Bill.
This view was rejected by the Head of State, who noted that the government’s only intention was to ensure local cricket was more accountable taking into consideration the wild accusations of corruption that was hurled against the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
Ramotar said, “We have bigger politics to deal with than to interfere in cricket politics.”
He explained that the only role the Sport Minister plays is in the setting up of the Board after which the Minister’s role will cease. He reasoned that the action of the WICB is also a threat to Regional Integration.
“I see it as a slap in the face and an attack on Regional Integration.”
The move by the WICB was described by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon as “appalling”.
He told reporters that what is more inexcusable was the arrogance with which the President of the WICB, Dave Cameron dealt with President Donald Ramotar and his Cabinet.
He also lashed out against the support that the Guyanese directors provided during the Board’s recently held meeting that influenced an unacceptable outcome for Guyana.
for years now i have been calling for guyana to opt out of caricom and take observer status we do not benefit from caricom ,and we are ill treated at their door steps. The wicb and its board has shown their blatant disrespect and disregard for the guyanese public.to this end we should urge our govt to step out of the WICB and apply to the ICC for test status as a country , it will be difficult at first but we will come through finally we should not buy any broadcasting rights ,and our business sector should not sponsor any of the matches.
It’s obvious as that dumb grin on Cameron’s face that he had an ulterior motive to move the match. Cash!
THE decision of the West Indies Cricket Board to relocate the third test match between the West Indies and the New Zealand cricket teams, from its Georgetown, Guyana, schedule because of the latter decision to legislate the Cricket Administration Bill, should be seen in the context of traditional rules being found inadequate and failing to remedy a situation that has brought a favourite sport, that is a major part of the national cultural personification, to an almost disastrous crash.The deterioration of the state of affairs of the country’s national cricket administration, as managed by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), where incidents of rigged elections and financial improprieties had been alleged, in addition to other reported serious issues clearly not related to cricket, was abysmal.
In fact, so abysmal was the state of affairs at the Board’s New Garden Street offices, that a senior official, its assistant treasurer Mr. Pretipaul Jaigobin, repeatedly voiced his concerns as to the Board’s finances and related matters.
Sometime in late 2010, he was doused with acid, which resulted in serious facial injuries. It was of little doubt that such an attack, very injurious and life-scarring to Jaigobin, had to do with the senior official’s frank and outspoken views over the Board’s finances. Even the Minister of Home Affairs requested police investigation into the financial irregularities, as reported.
What was at stake there was a particular sport, cricket, that above all others, is both the cultural bind and common denominator of the region’s people; and an activity that can be said to be the most widely played recreational event throughout Guyana.
More so, this game has seen Guyana produce world class players, the calibre of Lance Gibbs, Basil Butcher, Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kallicharran, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Joe Solomon, Roger Harper, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and of course, Clive Lloyd, the greatest test captain who led the regional side to an almost twenty-year domination of international cricket, in every available format during his time.
Surely, the abject state of Guyana’s cricket management with the concomitant annual poor performance of the national side, was not difficult to comprehend. For it was evidently clear, that within the administrative echelon of the national game, that there were persons who did not have the development of Guyana’s cricket as a priority, if at all; and neither were their actions consonant with such an undertaking. That such an unprecedented milieu must have saddened these famous cricketing icons, there can be little doubt. They must have felt let down for all they must have had as individuals, and collectively, contributed to the game; particularly towards making Guyana a regional cricketing power.
So not only was the Interim Management Committee (IMC) necessary, first as a mechanism for seeking to remove those unpatriotic persons from the management of national cricket, but also, secondly, to restructure its future execution.
So, what was wrong with the Government of Guyana, deciding on the much needed action, as stated above? Is it not endowed with the right, as a sovereign nation, to intervene in a matter that had attained scandalously criminal proportions, for the sole purpose of arresting a shocking state of affairs, while effecting structures for the future guidance of the nation’s cricket governance? This cannot be an interpretation of any government seeking to interfere or gain control of cricketing affairs as it pertains to Guyana. This is simply a case of the game and its management being rescued from the chaos into which it had fallen.
Therefore, in a nut shell, all that the legislated Cricket Administration Bill (the end product of the IMC’s work), seeks to do in collaboration with other local regional cricketing bodies, is to effect legal guidelines for the proper administration of Guyana’s cricket.
And for all the rules laid down by the International Cricket Council, and subscribed to and repeated by their faithful affiliate, the WICB – what did either of these as an individual body , or as a collective, do to even assist to correct what had obtained locally? Absolutely nothing!
We do subscribe to the given, that rules and regulations are necessary for the order that they bring to life and its numerous subsidiaries, as intended. But what if there is a situation where specific rules are found both inapplicable and inappropriate, as in the case where the ICC edict of a government not allowing any say in the affairs of its State’s national cricket, is found to be wholly irrational and inimical in Guyana peculiar instance? It would have been inconceivable for this position to still hold sway, while our national interest suffered.
So rules, hell! As a sovereign nation, Guyana – that is its government – has the inalienable right to intervene on any matter that is intrinsic to its national well-being, even cricket.
This is our country! This is our cricket! And this is our government that must be praised and commended for rescuing our cricket, while saying a loud ‘no’ to archaic rules that foster and perpetuate dangerous situations.