Vacancy!!!
WHEN the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) president Asif Ahmad took over the reins of the gentleman’s sport in the county early last year from long-serving Alvin Johnson, he charged his fellow executive members, clubs and players alike to work assiduously towards the resurrection of the gentleman’s game in the Cinderella county.

For a period of time, persons felt an urgency in the execution of tasks, competitions and other subject-related matters when it comes to the administration of the game, not to say that same was not evident when Johnson and his slate, which had comprised a few of the present executives, were in operation.

But the present state of the game is more of a big stick method, wherein you do as you are told and also when you are told or face the consequences that are deemed a fit enough penalty for your disobedience.

How could a county team turn up to play an official Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) tournament and post totals equivalent and at times below what Under-16 school teams are churning out in the same GCB/Ministry of Education Inter-school tournament?

Added to that, where is the priority in naming a squad, when a manager and coach are tasked to do same on the morning of a match? It meant that players had to be notified of their inclusion at late notice and hurriedly get to the venue of the game.

And when they do get there, they start late because of excessive moisture on the pitch – something that is unacceptable in any part of the cricketing world.

School teams are turning up for games as a unit, but a county team can be seen cruising in one by one or two by two as if they are entering Noah’s Ark, in preparation for a flood, because of late notice.

It is time the GCB conduct a full-scale investigation on where the priorities of those in charge of the game of cricket in Essequibo lie, as we have investors pumping huge sums of money into competitions, just to ensure the players remain active.

Gone are the days when you heard persons lamenting ‘not enough cricket is being played’, ‘the Diaspora of Essequibo’s cricket is far and wide’ and other unacceptable excuses, since Ahmad like Johnson before him, has been getting the sponsors to stay on board with the Cinderella county executives.

At times the administrators are blamed for a lackadaisical approach then such blame is shifted to the players, who, having plied their trade around Guyana, the Caribbean and at times as far as England and Canada, know what needs to be done, but yet fail to produce.

President of the GCB, Chetram Singh, and his competitions committee members experimented with a four-team competition last year, identifying the teams by using the names of our yesteryear heroes, which meant that there was no Inter-county tournament, hence Essequibo’s participation as a unit was not needed.

This should have served as an eye-opener to those in charge of the game there, to improve on the quality of production or else. But was anything done to that effect?

Another four-team competition was replayed this year, with Essequibo having the opportunity like the other two counties, to compete as a team, with players who found it difficult to make their respective county teams, making up the fourth team and being called the Rest XI.

A look at their first round game against Demerara saw them take the upper hand throughout, until the final morning when Steven Jacobs, a batsman who was asked to bowl his off-spinners, took a maiden five-wicket haul to steer Demerara to victory.

Shot selection from both sides in that match was poor, but on the part of the losers, who had taken first innings points and looked set to record a victory over a star-studded lineup, left much to be desired as some of their batsmen were bent on hitting boundaries off the recognised bowlers in the side, instead of occupying the crease.

Singh and his executives should revisit their 2008 experiment, leaving the Cinderella County to iron out its mediocrities surrounding its cricket before re-admission to the Inter-county competition at the senior level, as over the past year, it appears as though nothing has been done to improve the level of performance by the team.

To this effect, instead of getting the sponsors to pump money into a Twenty20 or limited overs tournament, they should be accruing sponsorship for the longer version of the game, which is in dire need of rectification, based on the team’s performance in the present competition.

Following Guyana’s dismal showing in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) first class competition earlier this year, where they ended in the cellar position, the GCB, through its cricket development committee, has commenced a countrywide three-day first division competition.

But this is being played at the club level, which is not beneficial to Essequibo, who, in the best interest of developing their cricket at the longer version of the game, should play same at an area level, with the respective areas naming their team of best players to compete.

Essequibo went into their present four-day GCB President’s Cup match without a regular wicketkeeper, forcing newly appointed skipper Norman Fredericks along with Trevor Benn, Dillon Heyliger and Oyono Sampson to do the glove work behind the wicket, while the on-field umpires in Daverteeth Anandjit and Nigel Duguid left the field of play in protest over the unavailability of drinking water at the final water break on the second day.

This was embarrassment to the highest level at a first-class match that is being used as part of the developmental process to Guyana’s cricket.

Added fuel to the fire was that three students, fast bowler Ronsford Beaton, left-arm spinner Anthony Adams and Mark Tyrell, were selected to play senior cricket at a time when school is in session and even though some may argue that it augurs well for the players, the basic fact of education being a priority should speak for itself.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Essequibo’s cricket is in dire need of a revival based on the present state it is in, hence a word of advice to the administrators.

Consult the best-run club in Guyana, Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) for advice on cricket administration as soon as possible or there will be catastrophe, wherein some of their best players will be left on the sidelines of national duties in the not-too-distant future.