Letter to the Sports EditorHow Moronic! We are about to lose hosting rights

Apr 13, 2019 Sports

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Dear Editor,
When I read and listened to Mr. Arun Gossai counsel for Berbice Cricket Board, it is quite evident that he is uniformed and ignorant of how the GCB and cricket in general is managed in Guyana. In reality, his media appearances appear to be a publicity stunt rather than genuine interest in progressive thinking for our cricket. Those that he represents clearly seem to have no knowledge either, so maybe I can excuse his ignorance on the grounds that his clients are incapable of advising.
It also takes me back eight (8) years when the then BCB secretary took the GCB to court claiming that the GCB had no legal identity and does not exist, while the BCB was a member of the GCB. The CCJ obviously ruled in favour of the GCB. It was madness then and moronic now, when we have so much to lose and have been doing so well on the field of play. Power at all cost, I guess, but posit that Mr. Gossai and his clients are oblivious to the dangers lurking, playing into the hands of those CWI members wanting the games in their islands.
As Minister Norton stated, our hosting of the India Tour in 2019 is now in jeopardy. This brings back memories of some years ago when the Australia Tour was cancelled because of government interference under the PPP. This government certainly and rightly stayed clear of the chaos created by their predecessor and I hope would step into assist the GCB.
Guyana may also lose the right to host the CWI Under-19 Tournament scheduled to be played in July/ August of 2019 as telegraphed by the CWI President, solely because a few disgruntled, self- serving individuals want to use our cricket to raise personal fortune for themselves or promote their status.
I am fully aware that the BCB is a one man show and Rabindranauth Sawack is operating under instruction from Hilbert Foster, the perennial fund raising Guru. As for Roger Harper, it is mind boggling that the most organized clubs in Guyana are based in Georgetown and Harper continues to file court action without, what appears to be, consent from those GCA members. It is time GCC, Everest, Police, DCC and all others put a stop to this nonsense. The GCA has not sent a representative youth team to any Guyana or Demerara competition in six years. Who really can say they are interested in youth development?
As for Berbice, I predict a sudden collapse of the famous tale of 365 events or competitions for the year, that is, one for each day. It has been over 3 years that no proper first division cricket has been played. T20, 100 BALLS, Jim Jones cricket and you name it, is what we are having. Hilbert Foster must be complimented for his personal fund raising drive and media clout. We are all aware that he is a director at Chronicle but seems to have special relationship at Kaieteur News, where all his articles of cricket in Berbice find place in the sports pages. Foster certainly has good public relations abilities however, the recent performance of BCB youth team can attest to the farce in Berbice cricket. Clubs such as Albion, Blairmont, and Tucber Park (not admitted as a member) continues to produce cricketers, Young Warriors and Rose Hall Community Centre recently seem to be doing well also but the sad thing is the purging of players to join the RHTYSC because it is how you get selected to play, this is sad. Selection must be on merit.
As a lover of the game I must compliment the Guyana Cricket Board for their history making performances regionally. Evidence of cricket development in Guyana exists so let’s take our heads out of the sand and make our own judgments. Is it Sanasie and the GCB or Hilbert Foster and Roger Harper who can take us into the future? My pick is the current GCB as composed.
I cannot close without mentioning the man who many of us know to be very litigious and claims to be the next GCB president “Roachie” is the man facilitating all the court actions. This man has never managed a cricket club, claims to be president of ECCB which had no elections in six years, rewrote the ECCB constitution three times and exclude all the establish clubs. It is time the clubs on the East Coast of Demerara take control of their situation, this person does not have a clue when it comes to management of cricket.We are certainly in silly times.
The “stakeholders” or “majority stakeholders” consist of a few living in the past. We must reject them and speak out against the continuous mayhem created to disrupt the smooth operation of the GCB, this madness must stop immediately.
We must all support the current individuals and ensure that this present situation comes to an end quickly and the CWI does not have an excuse to move the cricket from Guyana.
Yours in Sports,
Frank Budram.

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