I HAVE been involved in cricket administration since February 1983, when I was elected President of Malteenoes Sports Club. I served for 20 years as president of Malteenoes Sports Club and during that period the club made significant progress and notable achievements. I list some of these achievements below. 1. The club developed a youth cricket programme which saw the emergence of players such as Colwyn Cort, Barrington Browne, the late Nizam Hafiz, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Sean Devers and others.
2. The club established the first cricket academy in the Caribbean.
3. The club successfully organized its centenary celebrations in 2002.

Even after I decided to demit office as President of Malteenoes Sports Club, I continued being involved in cricket administration. Since 1983 I have serve in several positions and capacities in Guyana and West Indies cricket for example:-

1. I served on various sub-committees of the Guyana Cricket Board including Cricket Development, Competition, Selection and Fund Raising. During my tenure on these committees I served along with Gary Nascimento, Professor Aubrey Bishop, Mustaq Khan, Justice Lawrie Ganpatsingh, Leslie Amsterdam, Wilfred Sonny Edun, Cecil “Bruiser” Thomas, Colin Wiltshire, Ovid Glasgow, Joe Solomon and others.
2. I also worked with Mustaq Khan, Moses Bhagwan, Raymond Williams and others in restructuring the Guyana Cricket Board. This involved the establishment of the Demerara Cricket Board and Georgetown Cricket Association.
3. I was the first president of the Georgetown Cricket Association.
4. I served as President of the Demerara Cricket Board from 2003 – 2007.
5. I was Chairman of Selectors of the senior panel of the Guyana Cricket Board from 2004 to present. 
6. I was also Chairman of the Cricket Development Committee.
6.   I served as a West Indies Cricket Board Director from 2007- 2009.

Based on my service to cricket in Guyana and the West Indies, I feel that I am eminently qualified to give an informed commentary on the current state of play as it relates to Guyana’s cricket.
It is indeed a pity that after being at the head of Guyana’s Cricket for 19 years, Mr. Chetram Singh will demit office without: –
(a) a proper succession plan in place and/or
(b) a strategic plan to guide future leaders, and while chaos and mayhem pervade the Board’s operations and our cricket having been grossly devalued.

I now proceed to the presidential race. As I understand it there are now three (3) presidential hopefuls.

1. Mr. Ramsay Ali
Mr. Ali was elected to the position of Marketing Manager for the Demerara Cricket Board in 2005. He attended one meeting of the Executive Committee out of 21. As Marketing Manager he did not secure a single sponsor for cricket in Demerara.

In 2007 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board as Marketing Manager, a position that he held from January 2007 to present. Mr. Ali attended four (4) general meetings out of twelve (12) and sixteen (16) out of forty-eight (48) Executive Committee Meetings. His modus operandi is come late and leave early.

In 2009 he was elected Marketing Manager of the East Bank Cricket Association in his absence. I understand that as Vice President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association the highlight of his tenure was repeated absence from meetings.

As Marketing Manager of the Guyana Cricket Board, Mr. Ali never held a meeting of the sub-committee that he chairs. He has never submitted a report to the Executive Committee of the Board nor has he submitted a work plan.

His attempts at fundraising for the GCB were:-
(a) T20 cricket festival involving Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, USA and Guyana. This activity netted $600,000.00 from a $14,000,000.00 investment.
(b) T20 grudge matches against Trinidad and Tobago realized $14,000,000.00 when the projected profit was $26,000,000.00.
All inter county matches held at the Providence Stadium and under the supervision of Mr. Ali were colossal failures. There was poor attendance at these games occasioned by poor promotion. The Board suffered financially as a result.

Under his stewardship as Marketing Manager the Board lost the following sponsors:-
Baron Foods (First Division Clubs 50 overs)
Neal and Massy (First Division Clubs 40 overs)
Republic Bank (under 15 Clubs)
Gafoor (Clubs First Division)

Though he indicated that he had acquired a dedicated sponsor for female cricket we are yet to know who this sponsor is even after nearly two years.
Because of the fact that Mr. Ali came to the Board with experience in the corporate world in 2008 he was charged with the responsibility of setting up a mentoring programme for the young players. This has not been done to date.
Mr. Ali was also responsible for the establishment of the GCB website two years ago. The website was up for a short while. It was reduced to a non-functioning embarrassment of the Board.
At a meeting in May 2010 with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Honourable Dr. Frank Anthony, Mr. Ali undertook to address the two constitution issues and to take steps to effect constitutional reform. To date as far as I am aware nothing has been done.

In his quest for the office of president of the GCB, Mr. Ali should firstly explain to the cricketing public and the electorate the reason for his separation from Banks DIH Ltd and Cell Star.

Armed with the above information the electorate can only come to one conclusion.

2. Mr. Bishwa Panday
Mr. Panday I would like to think is my friend. He is a very successful businessman and a person who is always willing to share with the less fortunate. One can always rely on him to contribute to a needy cause. He served as Secretary of the GCB for 17 years while Mr. Singh was President and should have taken that opportunity to make his mark. Mr. Panday supported all of Chetty’s ideas. He then is equally culpable as Chetty for the current state of play. Bish should consider passing on his knowledge and lending his skill to a younger person in the same way as he did after demitting office as President of Georgetown Cricket Association. The old brigade must bow out gracefully and give way to the new cadre of young capable cricket administrators a la Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club.     

3. Mr. Bissoondyal Singh
Mr. Bissoondyal Singh is a young, bright, energetic and very personable individual with excellent administrative skills who played the game of cricket. He manages his own business and has a passion for the game. He is willing to learn, he may make mistakes but it is up to us the older heads to assist him as we move forward.

I feel that the members, the delegates and the general public should rally around Mr. Bissoondyal Singh. Support his team and support his programmes. Of the three (3), he is our best choice for moving our cricket forward. Our Cricket needs new young dynamic leadership.
I will deal with the positions of secretary and treasurer in a follow-up article.