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Beharry says BCB will not participate in GCB elections
By Sean Devers
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Elections is billed for Sunday at the GCC pavilion and Anil Beharry, the new President of the Berbice Cricket Board
Anil Beharry
(BCB) says that the BCB will not attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections of the GCB.
This decision was made by the Board during its first statutory meeting on Sunday. “Based on the Cricket Administration Act, the Berbice Cricket Board will not attend the Guyana Cricket Board Annual General Meeting, or in any way, participate in the upcoming elections of the Guyana Cricket Board,” Beharry told Kaieteur Sports via the facebook social network yesterday.
According to the 44-year-old Beharry, his Board was willing and ready to participate in any GCB elections that were properly conducted, but would not defy the laws of the land.
Attorney General (AG), the controversial Anil Nandlall says that any decision by the GCB to proceed with elections would be illegal if they were held outside of the procedures laid down in the Cricket Administration Act.
”If the GCB officials acted in a manner contrary to the provisions of that Act, their actions and consequently, those elections would be “illegal, unlawful, null and void, and of no effect”. Nandlall said.
Based on the Cricket Administration Act 2014 (Schedule 1, Section 7), the “elections to the Executive Committee of the GCB in respect of the first elections shall be held in accordance with Section 17 on the date appointed in writing by the Minister acting in consultation with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)”.
The Act further states that “the Minister, after meaningful consultation with the WICB, shall be responsible for the appointment of a Cricket Ombudsman, who shall be responsible for the verification of the Register of Clubs and for performing the functions of Returning Officer for the first elections of the membership of the GCB”.
Dr Frank Anthony, Guyana Minister of Sports, has appointed Cricket Historian Dr Winston McGowan as Guyana’s first Cricket Ombudsman and he will be responsible for calling the elections of the three constituent members of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB); Demerara Cricket Board (DCB), Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) and Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) in accordance with the provisions of Cricket Administration Law which was assented to by President Ramotar in August last after the ‘Cricket Bill’ was enacted in Parliament on June 20.
The post of Cricket Ombudsman is new to Guyana and is a feature of the recently enacted Cricket Administration law. After the County Board elections are completed in a proper manner McGowan is mandated to call the GCB elections, before the nine members from each of the three County Boards appoints an Ombudsman to settle any possible problem in the Administration of cricket.
The full time Ombudsman will be elected by the three County Boards since the appointment by the Minister is a one-time job and his role is now finished as far as his involvement in the Administration of cricket in Guyana is concerned. A new Ombudsman or the same person could be re-elected. McGowan, a former professor at the University of Guyana, is also a pastor.
The announcement of the appointment of the Cricket Ombudsman was made by Head of the Presidential Secretariat in the Office of the President Dr Roger Luncheon. In 2013, the GCB AGM and elections were held with only Essequibo’s nine delegates participating. The BCB did not participate, while the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) was prevented by the Courts from functioning.
According to the GCB Constitution, no less than two boards can conduct the elections and 14 of the 27 delegates are needed to convene a meeting and elections. However, according to a usually reliable source, there were no consultations between the Regional or Guyana Cricket Boards before Dr Anthony appointed Dr McGowan as Ombudsman.
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