Cricket Stakeholders write WICB

Nov 07, 2013 Sports

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Mr. Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron
President
WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD INC.
St John’s, Antigua
WEST INDIES

Dear President,
We note with extreme concern the content of your letter dated 24 October 2013 and addressed to     Mr. Sherlock Isaacs, Clerk of the National Assembly. We are compelled to respond as it is clear that there has been some amount of misinformation disseminated in relation to the participation, process and intent of the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill 2012 (GCAB 2012).
Firstly, we wish to state that the authors of this letter are the “Majority Constituent Members of Guyana Cricket” and that we have played a part in the Parliamentary process which took place over a three-month period and which allowed the opportunity for all cricket stakeholders throughout Guyana to make contributions. We categorically state that the subject Bill was drafted with our full knowledge and consent. We note that the West Indies Cricket Board Inc. (WICB) is on record as having itself made a contribution to the GCAB 2012.
It is our contention that there does not exist a legitimate Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) as only one of the three (3) constituent Member Boards of the GCB took part in the purported elections held in July 2011 and again in January 2013. The persons holding themselves as officers of the GCB have for the past three (3) years foisted themselves on the administration of cricket in Guyana, and the WICB had been advised accordingly. Those persons do not reflect the will nor do they represent the interest of the cricket stakeholders of Guyana at any level.
The apparent collusion between the WICB and the illegal GCB regime has severely undermined cricket development in Guyana to the extent that our cricket has been in chaos and confusion for over three (3) years. This collusion is evident in the fact that the WICB had sent three (3) observers (Imran Khan, Paul Slowe and Conde Riley) to the purported GCB elections held on 27 January 2013 in an apparent charade to accept the results of those elections as quid pro quo for Guyana’s support for the re-election of Dr. Julian Hunte as President of the WICB.
Meanwhile, at the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) level, Raj Singh, Anand Sanasie and persons unknown to the DCB constituent members have reportedly usurped the functions of a legitimate DCB Executive. This is the first time since the formation of the DCB in 1991 that the major constituent members of the DCB – the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) and the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) – along with the Guyanese cricketing public, do not know who the executive members of the DCB are.  The GCA and the ECCB wrote a letter to the WICB in February 2013 (copy attached) informing that there is no legitimate DCB as a court order was issued prohibiting the holding of elections for the DCB.  Further, that letter sought the intervention of the WICB to determine who were the persons holding themselves as Executive Members of the DCB, and who represented the DCB at the purported elections of the GCB on  27 January 2013. To date, there has been no reply.
The fact that the DCB is illegal and that one of the other two (2) constituent Member Boards of the GCB, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), did not take part in the purported elections of the GCB on 27 January 2013 meant that there could not possibly have been constitutional elections.
The WICB has therefore been sending monies over the past three (3) years to an illegal GCB, and much of those remittances have been consumed in GCB legal fees.  It is apposite to note that none of the monies has gone to those constituent members that make up ninety percent (90) of the strength of Guyana Cricket.  Moreover, the assets of the DCB and the assets of the GCB have been illegally transferred to private individuals without the knowledge and authorisation of the constituent members of those Boards and ipso facto are no longer the property of those constituent members.
All the while, the WICB continues to recognise the GCB as the governing body for cricket in Guyana, without addressing the critical issue that the Majority Constituent Members of the GCB had on several occasions informed the WICB that the present GCB is illegal and is not a properly-constituted entity. We had many times requested the intervention of the WICB in this matter but instead the Parent Board has apparently accepted the claims of the illegal GCB. What would be the position of the WICB should we, the Majority Constituent Members of Guyana cricket, hold elections and present ourselves as the GCB?  It is expected that the WICB would accept only a properly and legally-constituted Member Board, in keeping with Clauses 2 to 9(A) of the ICC Rules.
We wish to remind you that in April 2013 at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, a delegation from the Majority Constituent Members of Guyana Cricket met and apprised you of the untenable situation to which Guyana cricket had regressed. We delivered several documents to you including injunctions/orders supporting the widely-held position that the GCB is an illegal body.  Importantly, you had given an undertaking then that the “Guyana problem” would be high on your agenda and that under your watch there would be transparency, accountability and credibility in the election processes of the Member Boards of the WICB.  Further, we wish to remind you that, after a discussion on the Parliamentary process, you conceded that this process was the best solution to resolve the cricket impasse in Guyana, and you pledged your support.  However, nothing has been done by the WICB to address the problems that exist in Guyana Cricket. Instead, we note with concern that some amount of criticism has been leveled in relation to the passage of the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill 2012.
This Bill is noble in its intent to bring order to Guyana Cricket and has the support of the vast amount of the stakeholders of Guyana Cricket.
Also, we are aware that the very persons who illegally occupy the GCB recently embarked on a campaign to garner the support of WICB officials to discredit the Bill in an attempt to ultimately derail the Parliamentary process. It is clear that those persons are very uncomfortable with the Parliamentary process which will result in a free, democratic and fair process for the holding of elections for the GCB and its constituent Member Boards.
With regard to the content of your letter, we note that some of your issues seem to be misplaced.  It is unfortunate that we were not given an opportunity to clarify these issues.  Please note the following:
1.    We recognize that the Bill seeks to pave the way for the holding of fresh, free and fair elections for the constituent members of Guyana Cricket Board and for the Guyana Cricket Board itself.
2.    We are assured that, with both the Bill and the GCB constitution, there will be no involvement by Government in the administration of cricket.
3.    It is important to note that the Guyana Cricket Board is not a self-serving and independent entity; it is a body constituted by the three (3) Member Boards and is answerable to those Boards. The constituent members of Guyana Cricket are the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) and the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) and these Boards biennially elect an Executive Committee, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), to administrate cricket. Constitutionally, the supreme authority for cricket in Guyana is the General Membership which is made up of the three (3) above-named Member Boards.  The Guyana Cricket Board Executives can be recalled at any time by the three (3) County Boards.
4.    The setting of the membership of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) is a constitutional matter for the constituent members of the Demerara Cricket Board. The Demerara Cricket Board is merely an executive body that is elected biennially by the constituent members of the Demerara Cricket Board and cannot on its own make any constitutional change. (Please note that submissions to Parliament were made by the major constituent members of Demerara Cricket).
5.     We also hope that the parties will come to final resolution but we are mindful that there is a very small clique that seems bent on staying in illegal control of Guyana Cricket.
It is incumbent on the WICB to “rally round” any process that is noble in its intent to bring order in any area within its jurisdiction. Towards this end, the WICB would have been better placed to make a fair and proper judgment on the Guyana Cricket problems had it consulted the bona fide stakeholders of Guyana Cricket. This was never done.
In closing, we the Majority and Major Constituent Members of Guyana Cricket have perused both the Bill and the attached schedules and wish to state categorically that we are in full support of these documents pursuant to the passage of the Cricket Administration Bill 2012. Also, we look forward to the support of the WICB in the general interest of West Indies cricket. We avail ourselves to meet with you at any time to discuss these troubling issues and we wish to assure you of our fullest cooperation towards a fair resolution.
We hope that this will be the final resolution to the troubles that have consumed cricket in Guyana for too long.
Yours sincerely,
Keith Foster
President
Berbice Cricket Board

Bissoondyal Singh
President
East Coast Cricket Board

Roger Harper
President
Georgetown Cricket Association

Cc: Mr. Emmanuel Nanthan Vice-President – West Indies Cricket Board Inc
Mr. Michael Muirhead CEO – West Indies Cricket Board Inc
Directors – West Indies Cricket Board Inc
Secretary – Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board
Secretary – Jamaica Cricket Association
Secretary – Barbados Cricket Association
Secretary – Windward Islands Cricket Association
Secretary – Leeward Islands Cricket Association
Mr. David Richardson CEO – International Cricket Council
H.E. Donald Ramotar – President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana
Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony MP – Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Cricket
Hon. Mohabir Nandlall MP – Attorney General of Guyana and Minister of Legal Affairs
Mr. David Granger MP – Leader of the opposition and A Partnership for National Unity
Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Joseph Harmon MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Basil Williams MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Christopher Jones MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Odinga Lumumba MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Mr. Neend Kumar MP – Member of Special Select Committee (Cricket)
Hon. Erwin Larocque – Secretary General – Caribbean Community Secretariat

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