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Clearing those misconceptions in East Coast cricket
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter to clear up some misconceptions that is currently being peddled by Mr. Bissoondyal Singh.
Firstly, he claims that the majority of players that represented Demerara and Guyana come from the Georgetown and East Coast Boards. However, I beg to differ. For quite some time now the East Coast U-15, U-17 and U-19 players were selected based on their practice sessions that were held by me, Mr. Latchman Yadram and Mr. Orin Bailey at the Enmore Cricket Club.
It must be noted that, the Bissoondyal Singh led, East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) had no input; instead they went to clubs and threatened players and club officials with lawsuits etc. Nevertheless, I persevered and sent three teams to the age group competitions. It is also noteworthy to say that the U-15s and U-19s finished second in their respective competitions. I believe that with a little more resources, we could have done a lot better.
Also, the following players were selected to represent Demerara and President XI at the Inter-County 2014.
| Demerara | President XI
|
|
| U-15 | Bhaskar Yadram, Pradesh Balkissoon, | Anil Singh, Robin Williams |
| U-17 | Vishwanauth Ramlakhan, Ramnarine Chaturia | |
| U-19 | Brian Sattuar, Ramnarine Chaturia, Richard Woolford, Randolph Singh | Gavin Moriah, Vishwanauth Ramlakhan, Matthew Shivtahal, Vivian Albert, Damion Waldron |
From the above mentioned, three players represented Guyana at the Regional U-19 (Damion Waldron, Gavin Moriah and Brian Sattuar); Bhaskar Yadram did the U-15 and Ramnarine Chaturia for the U-17. Also, Gavin Moriah played for Demerara in the senior inter-county 4-Day competition.
If the clubs had fallen for the threats made by Mr. Bissoondyal Singh, the players would not have gotten the opportunity to play cricket at a higher level and mixing with players from other clubs. This experience is truly a necessary and vital one for players.
Another very disturbing incident that is currently being played out is the constant harassment and threats of suing the sponsor of the East Coast Cricket Committee 50-Over Competition.
May I remind Mr. Bissoondyal Singh that sponsorship is the lifeblood of sports, and threats to sponsors generally kill sports. But then again, he should know all about killing sports considering the ECCB lethargic performance on the East Coast for numerous years.
The clubs together form the ECCB and its legality may be needed to be answered in the court, since many clubs claimed they have no knowledge of the election that was supposedly held on 10th August, 2014. No one remembers hearing or seeing any notice about this election in the media, by official notice or any other means.
I also take this opportunity to remind Mr. Bissoondyal Singh that freedom of association is a constitutional right of Guyanese and no amount of threats or the contacts he knows can deny us this right.
Our aim is to ensure cricket is played on the East Coast, players are represented, and they are provided with an opportunity to further their careers. The integrity of the gentleman that forms the core of this group cannot be questioned.
In cricket parlance, you have been given out and used up your review, so only your ego is delaying the game. We have no place for egotistic megalomaniacs.
Yours sincerely,
Anil Persaud
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