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MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony last Thursday told Chronicle Sport, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), who is the regional body for the governance of cricket in the Caribbean, is critical to resolving the issues surrounding the now defunct Guyana Cricket Board (GCB). “We cannot play cricket in the Courts. People accuse us of wanting to control the cricket and we don’t wish to do that at all. Clearly there is a problem with the administrators who are fighting and we don’t want that to continue, so we are taking measures as directed by the Chief Justice.
From all perspective, we want to ask the WICB to work along with us, as they are critical to resolving the problems we have here and we have been communicating with them on the issues,” said Dr Anthony.
He added, “The position of the Government is very clear. We have put to the WICB, the former GCB have been injuncted and that is a very clear position and that’s the position in law. There is an injunction restraining them from performing their duties of the cricket board. We also know that during the year, a number of those executives have resigned.”
The minister said he is in possession of the respective resignation letters from the GCB members and their trustees, copies of which were forwarded to the WICB.
“The WICB clearly knows that most of the members of the former GCB and its Trustees have resigned and there is an injunction in place that bars the former members of the GCB from performing their duties.”
With regard to the Clive Lloyd-led Interim Management Committee (IMC) which was set up last December and given a mandate with regard to the Constitution of the GCB, Dr Anthony said the WICB officials were notified of such, but they refuse to recognise it.
“The WICB’s position on the IMC is that they don’t recognise the IMC as the body to perform functions in Guyana, when it comes to cricket and since there is no GCB in place, we have a problem.
In that regard, we have suggested to the WICB that in the interim, they (WICB) should appoint an agent in Guyana for the purpose of cricket administration and selection of teams. We held discussions towards such with Dr Julian Hunte (WICB president) who promised to respond to the Government’s request after putting same to the WICB, but up to now we have not received a response,” said Dr Anthony.
With regard to the selection of Guyana’/s T20 team to compete in next year’s Caribbean T20 which will be hosted in Trinidad and St Lucia, Dr Anthony said the WICB don’t ask governments to select teams and the Government of Guyana has never gotten such a request from the governing body.
“I saw in the media, we are missing the deadline so that’s the situation. Even earlier this year when the IMC selected a team, the WICB did not accept that team so we have a difficulty there and the only logical way we can resolve the matter is the WICB appointing an agent on a temporary measure so that we can deal with these issues.”
With regard to the mandate given to the IMC, a cheerful Dr Anthony said the Constitution was completed and would have been given various levels of consultations, while it reflects the views of the stakeholders of the game here in Guyana.
“A draft of the legislation was done and consulted on and both documents were sent to the WICB for comments. Our next step is to lay the Bill in Parliament and once it is debated and passed as law, then it is done, following which we will have an election at the earliest opportunity, bringing an end to the life of the IMC who would have completed its mandate and we expect all this to be completed within the next two to three months.”
According to Dr Anthony, the IMC has the Constitution and Legislation in plan, but he finds it difficult to predict what will happen along the road, since all of their plans are being challenged in the Courts and while he did not confirm whether or not the issues surrounding the Demerara Cricket Board may be the key factor, he did say the Government of Guyana is committed towards solving the issues within the GCB.
When asked to comment on the press releases that were sent out by officials from within the now defunct GCB, Dr Anthony said that if they are acting in contradiction to the Court order and found to be in contempt of Court then the law will deal with that.
From all perspective, we want to ask the WICB to work along with us, as they are critical to resolving the problems we have here and we have been communicating with them on the issues,” said Dr Anthony.
He added, “The position of the Government is very clear. We have put to the WICB, the former GCB have been injuncted and that is a very clear position and that’s the position in law. There is an injunction restraining them from performing their duties of the cricket board. We also know that during the year, a number of those executives have resigned.”
The minister said he is in possession of the respective resignation letters from the GCB members and their trustees, copies of which were forwarded to the WICB.
“The WICB clearly knows that most of the members of the former GCB and its Trustees have resigned and there is an injunction in place that bars the former members of the GCB from performing their duties.”
With regard to the Clive Lloyd-led Interim Management Committee (IMC) which was set up last December and given a mandate with regard to the Constitution of the GCB, Dr Anthony said the WICB officials were notified of such, but they refuse to recognise it.
“The WICB’s position on the IMC is that they don’t recognise the IMC as the body to perform functions in Guyana, when it comes to cricket and since there is no GCB in place, we have a problem.
In that regard, we have suggested to the WICB that in the interim, they (WICB) should appoint an agent in Guyana for the purpose of cricket administration and selection of teams. We held discussions towards such with Dr Julian Hunte (WICB president) who promised to respond to the Government’s request after putting same to the WICB, but up to now we have not received a response,” said Dr Anthony.
With regard to the selection of Guyana’/s T20 team to compete in next year’s Caribbean T20 which will be hosted in Trinidad and St Lucia, Dr Anthony said the WICB don’t ask governments to select teams and the Government of Guyana has never gotten such a request from the governing body.
“I saw in the media, we are missing the deadline so that’s the situation. Even earlier this year when the IMC selected a team, the WICB did not accept that team so we have a difficulty there and the only logical way we can resolve the matter is the WICB appointing an agent on a temporary measure so that we can deal with these issues.”
With regard to the mandate given to the IMC, a cheerful Dr Anthony said the Constitution was completed and would have been given various levels of consultations, while it reflects the views of the stakeholders of the game here in Guyana.
“A draft of the legislation was done and consulted on and both documents were sent to the WICB for comments. Our next step is to lay the Bill in Parliament and once it is debated and passed as law, then it is done, following which we will have an election at the earliest opportunity, bringing an end to the life of the IMC who would have completed its mandate and we expect all this to be completed within the next two to three months.”
According to Dr Anthony, the IMC has the Constitution and Legislation in plan, but he finds it difficult to predict what will happen along the road, since all of their plans are being challenged in the Courts and while he did not confirm whether or not the issues surrounding the Demerara Cricket Board may be the key factor, he did say the Government of Guyana is committed towards solving the issues within the GCB.
When asked to comment on the press releases that were sent out by officials from within the now defunct GCB, Dr Anthony said that if they are acting in contradiction to the Court order and found to be in contempt of Court then the law will deal with that.
