Letter to the Sports Editor
IT was after much consideration that I have decided to pen this letter as it breaks the human heart and spirit to observe the state of cricket on and off the field in Guyana. I have been actively involved in the game of cricket since 1990, and today serve as the Secretary/CEO of Guyana’s leading Youth & Sports Organisation – Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club.
The views expressed below are personal and I must state that I am not a member of the Guyana Cricket Board.
It was simply disgraceful to read the internal fighting, personal battles and poor administration that are affecting the game in Guyana and unless something is done urgently, cricket might be dead soon at all angles in our beloved country.
The sad part of it all is that the only losers in this sickening situation would be our young cricketers because of the very persons who are fighting each other today would simply move on with their lives or join another sports administration.
All who are involved in the administration of Cricket in Guyana need to understand that they are there to serve our youths and to develop the game to an all-time high level and that their only aim must be to serve faithfully without looking over their shoulders for personal rewards, positions or power.
What is important is not whether you are the President, Secretary, WICB Director or Guyana Cricket Board member, but rather what you can do with that position.
As cricket administrator, it hurts to read the papers and watch the television and see headline articles and news items about the internal problems of the Guyana Cricket Board.
This has been going on for too long and all the parties involved must sit down, allow tempers to settle and remember why they got involved in the administration of cricket in the first place.
If it is for personal power or elite status get out, if it is to be part of teams in unity to return Guyana to its glorious days of yesteryear then renew the commitment to making a positive difference.
We have to stop this profound nonsense or perish. We have to discuss the development of cricket, our players and nothing else.
We have to get our best cricketing and administrative brains together and come up with visionary plans to lift Guyana out of the bottom of the barrel.
We cannot do this if we cannot talk to each other, if we are happy when the other fails or if we are only interested in our own positions rather than the national cause.
To conquer death you only have to die but to conquer disunity and mistrust we only have to sit down, talk to each other, forgive each other of our sins, listen and respect the next person’s view and think of the bigger picture and not selfish goals.
If there is need for any incentive to work together, let us think about the exciting talents of young Under-15 players like Brian Sattaur, Shawn Perreira, Ricardo Adams or K. Yadram and how we can all play major roles in guiding them to become our next international stars or do we want to be remembered as the generation of leaders who, because of the desire for power at all cost, denied the world of the next Lara, Lloyd, Richards or Ambrose.
I personally know most of the leading actors in this national circus and know that they are concerned about the state of affairs and want to play the role in the development of cricket.
The $64 000 000 question is what is stopping them from picking up the phone and telling the opposite number that the time for a truce has come and ‘let us sit down and talk about the way forward’.
Many wars and battles have been stopped just by sitting down and listening to the other persons’ viewpoints. You might be surprised that the width of your differences is not that large and you can work together for the common goal of saving Guyana’s cricket.
I would like to challenge the two sets of leaders in the Guyana Cricket Board to put up the surrender flags and say ‘enough is enough’ and seek to work together. I would also like to challenge some respected Guyanese to offer their services as Mediators to heal the wounds and to allow our administrators to get back on track to do what there were elected to do.
Names like Conrad Plummer, Yesu Persaud, Clifford Reis, Cecil Kennard, Sattaur Gafoor and Chris Fernandes come to mind whose skills and reputations as outstanding Guyanese can be used to mend the wounds and allow the train of progress and development to move for the betterment of all young cricketers.
We want to hear about visionary plans like cricket academies, coaching sessions, personal developmental programmes for junior cricketers, adequate funding for County Boards, Inter-county Tournaments at the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-23 levels, more emphasis on female cricket instead of negative headlines that would destroy the game more.
I would also like to urge my friends of the media not to use their pens to widen the division by supporting any side but rather use their positions to influence both sides to sit down and resolve their differences for the common goal. Let us use the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) as a role model where team unity brings progress.