Selective application of a policy

Jun 10, 2014 Editorial

The decision by the West Indies Cricket Board to remove the third Test between West Indies and New Zealand is going to have far-reaching implications for the future of the game. According to President Donald Ramotar, the decision is also threatening the regional integration movement.
For starters, despite cricket was the first integration institution in the region and helped mould the common West Indian culture, there were certain kinks that actually fostered insularity.
But there is more to this issue. The Guyana Government, in response to complaints that there were corrupt practices within the Guyana Cricket Board, moved to resolve the matter by passing legislation that would actually see the Guyana Cricket Board holding elections and affording the members a decent role in the cricket board.
Many of them had complained about rigged elections and financial irregularities. Some members had actually moved to the courts to force an examination of the accounts of the Guyana Cricket Board. Books were seized and in the end, the President of the Board decided to join those who had resigned en bloc. In the end a few members remained to serve as directors on the West Indies Cricket Board.
The government believes that the decision of the WICB stems from the self-interest of those Guyanese directors on the West Indies Board. These are the people who would have interfaced with the management of the WICB and who would have helped sell the line that the government wanted to control cricket in Guyana.
The WICB said that Government control of the cricket in Guyana would not be tolerated by the International Cricket Council. If that is the policy of the ICC then it surely is not a new policy but it seems to be applied sparingly.
The Pakistan government has not been loath to become involved in its cricket. Just last month the Pakistan government lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s decision to remove the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) administration under Najam Sethi chairmanship, annul all its decisions, and reinstate Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman.
If this is not Government involvement in cricket then nothing is. And that is not the only incidence. There was the move by the Pakistani Government to get the Taliban to put down their guns and take up cricket bats. Imran Khan, one of the great fast bowlers in the world is now the head of the third largest political party in Pakistan.
In India, the ICC is even more silent. The government from time to time makes political decisions about cricket. And Guyana has not been without incidence of the government being involved in cricket. Forbes Burnham intervened to have Clive Lloyd released from his club in Australia to play against Australia in the West Indies.
Lloyd played in the Guyana match and made a hundred runs, having arrived nearby in helicopter and having to run to the Bourda Cricket ground.
President Donald Ramotar, and before him, President Bharrat Jagdeo, make a very important point: the government spends untold sums to ensure that the infrastructure is there for the game. Every risk is undertaken by the government when it comes to cricket; the WICB has none.
Not so long ago the regional governments met at the Caricom Summit to review West Indies cricket. At the time the regional team was being beaten by all and sundry. Being the major integration institution, the governments were concerned and they met to fashion recommendations for the good of the game.
In the end they submitted their recommendations to the West Indies Cricket Board. Was this not government involvement in the game? It is interesting that the Guyana Government actually accommodated the official from the WICB. That official was actually trying to dictate for a sovereign state.
The Guyana Government is now of the view that the official was trying to protect an acolyte in Guyana. Further, there is the belief that this acolyte actually initiated the withdrawal of the game. The Bill is in force and the Guyana Cricket Board must do what the law now suggests.
We know that coming out of this would be a better WICB, one that would operate under the rule of law.

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