THERE is no disputing the historical fact that cricket, lovely cricket, constitutes the cultural heart and soul of the Caribbean ethos, inclusive of Guyana, the sole English-speaking state on the South American mainland.
This game, first played in the former British colony of Barbados sometime in the 1780s, has since then developed exponentially, to become the common denominator of Caribbean tradition.
In fact, it represents that unique expression of what is known as the Caribbean man. It is the singular thread that unifies this geographic space, and ALL of what is Caribbeanness.
Thus, the recent decision of the government of Guyana to decisively intervene in the local administration of the nation’s cricketing authorities, is precisely representative of the very reasons as outlined above.
In a nation, where this sport is considered paramount, despite the rise in popularity of others such as football, basketball and rugby, cricket is still understood to be the national game. As a matter of fact, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony captured the national sentiment during a recent press conference he hosted, when he said: “Therefore, we can’t leave things in a vacuum; cricket is much too important to our country.”
Obviously, the cavalier and seemingly fossilised West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) did not understand this dynamic realism, insofar as it relates to the state of affairs, surrounding the administration of the local game.
Had this governing body been cognisant of this truism, it would have launched immediate investigations into the many reports forwarded to its offices, concerning the very grave allegations, inclusive of financial irregularities, visa racketeering, fraud and electoral irregularities, made against the Guyana Cricket Board. It is unbelievable that such an attitude of gross indifference has been displayed by the regional   authority to such a festering situation for so long.
But one ought not be surprised, particularly as it relates to the debacle that has been the general state of the region’s game, inherent in the decline of the once unbeatable West Indies cricket team; and the numerous battles which this so–called governing authority has had with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), pertaining to players’ rights.
It still boggles the mind when one examines the personalities who have objected to the action taken by the Guyana Government in its attempt to bring sanity and respectability to a situation that could have only been described as dastardly, anarchic and embarrassing to the memory of those past, worthy, administrators and local legends of this great sport.
Where is the justification for assailing the Sport Ministry, hence the government’s action, consequent to a ruling by the court, when the minister had many times, sought to bring the warring parties to a common understanding about the affairs at the GCB.
Surely, those gentlemen who, by various means, became a part of the administrative structure of this once respected Board, informs of a cabal, many of whom, unaffiliated to any of the county boards, and by  strange means, became a part of the administrative structure of the GCB.
Many of them would have never held a cricket bat, much less understood what the proper management of cricket is all about.
Surely, it had to be for the many perks that were on offer. Therefore, the many questionable allegations, reported within the Board, as stated above, directs to a non-interest in cricket.
This contention could be substantiated by the concomitant, progressive deterioration of Guyana’s cricket as these questionable characters gradually took over the Board at New Garden Street.
Their arrival meant the deleterious and abysmal slide of the local team from a once dominant position to mere amateurs. Whither Guyana’s cricket at the moment?
Now, the nation has been reminded again, this time by the ICC of their traditional rule, that governments must not be involved in the managing of cricket.
Of course, rules are meant to be observed, but there are extraordinary, contingent situations that demand a departure from such diktats – such as saving Guyana’s cricket as the national sport.
It would have been totally a neglect of national duty on the part of the executive not to arrest this chaos.  After all, the ICC must be reminded that Guyana is a sovereign nation, and the government has exercised its prerogative in a situation that warranted decisive action – intervention in the national interest.
No concerned government in any of the region’s cricketing island states would have countenanced such a continued chaos. They would have taken similar action, as the Antiguan government is threatening, with regard to the current state of their island Board.
Hence the replacement of the GCB with an Interim Management Committee, and Minister Anthony’s reiteration that such a structure will continue to  function, is indeed  appropriate.
Sport is Sport, but cricket is serious sport!