Singh re-elected unopposed as DCB President

Jan 25, 2009 Sports

By Sean Devers
President of the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) Bissoon Singh was last evening re-elected unopposed to serve his second term at the helm of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) when the entity held its Annual General Meeting and elections at the Wales Community Centre on the West Bank Demerara.
Past Secretary Ian John was the only casualty from the previous administration as Raj Singh defeated Salim Baksh 28-5 to fill the position of Secretary.

Bissoon Singh (seated centre) and his executives following the election yesterday.

None of the nominees for the other positions were challenged in what was a landslide win for the incumbent administration as the ECCB and the West Demerara Cricket Association alienated the Georgetown Cricket Association.
Both Anand Sanasie and West Indies Cricket Board Chairman of Selectors Clyde Butts were returned unopposed as Vice-Presidents.
Butts, who was the only GCA member to be elected on the DCB was unavoidably absent due to current regional cricket duties.
The nomination, seconding of those chosen and the appointment to their respective positions was swift and almost rehearsed as the ECCB and WDCA; with 14 votes each, dominated to shut out Georgetown (10 votes) from the proceedings.
East Bank Cricket Association (EBCA), the other area association affiliated to the DCB was not allowed to participate in the elections due to their ongoing saga with the DCB which is presently still before the court.
The 40-year-old Singh, who became the youngest DCB President last year, told the media that the development of grounds will be a critical area to be looked at by his Board this year since he feels that despite the best plans and systems, without grounds it is impossible to organise competitions.
“While the grounds in the City are not bad, the unavailability of grounds on the East Coast and West Demerara is a major problem since many of the ground in the rural areas are controlled by the NDCs or GuySuCo. I am hoping to get the relevant authorities to address this issue this year since we (DCB) don’t have the money to fix them on our own,” Singh lamented.
The President said that if corporate Guyana is interested in adopting a ground and maintaining it for a year or two the DCB would be glad to work along with them.
While the resuscitation of grounds is the DCB’s number one priority for 2009, the restructuring of its selection policy will also be placed high on the agenda.
According to him, the DCB is now awaiting a similar document from the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) before finalising its own.
Singh also informed that many prospective sponsors are already talking with the DCB and once the rain stops and grounds become available several competitions at all levels are in the pipeline.
“As of today, the politics are over. We now extend a hand in friendship and camaraderie to all the associations and stakeholders in Demerara cricket and I want all to be involved as we put the cricket first and hope to develop the game in Demerara,” Singh added.
He said that school cricket is also high on his agenda for 2009 and disclosed that he hopes to work more closely with the Ministry of Education to get cricket back into the school structure.
Decentralising cricket in Demerara could pose the biggest problem for the DCB since it cannot officially organise competitions or projects on the East Bank due to the court problem.
“We are not satisfied that enough is being done for cricket in Linden, but the East Bank Association is responsible for the game in that area and legally we can’t do much since we could end up in court. We, however, try to help the development of cricket in all areas of Demerara and we are ready to welcome back the East Bank Cricket Association,” Singh said.
He informed that the sub committees will be named in the next two weeks and urged his entire executive to set higher goals and show commitment as they attempt to make cricket in Demerara an example for the rest of the country.
The full DCB executive read:- President (Bisoon Singh), Vice-President (Annand Sanasie), Vice-President (Clyde Butts), Secretary (Raj Singh), Assistant Secretary (Samaroo Jailall), Treasurer (Pretipaul Jaigobin), Assistant Treasurer (Lalta Digamber), Public Relations Officer (Rovin Stanly), Competitions Committee Chairman (Krishnchand Mangal), Marketing Manager (Rajendra Persaud).
Both trustees for the last administration (Claude Raphael and Ronald Williams) were returned, while the auditors; Solomon, Parmesar and Company were also returned from the previous DCB.
Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandalall was the presiding officer.