“IT IS WRONG to say that there is no GCB, as there is one in

place. What they don’t have is an executive body of the GCB and that is an issue which has been misunderstood by so many persons recently and disappointingly, many persons have missed that point as the executives were injuncted.”
Those were the words of Ronald Williams, who chaired yesterday’s near-hour-long press briefing that was organised by a group of local cricket stakeholders under the name National Cricket Stakeholders Group (NCSG) and held at the Manila Hotel in Kitty.
Present at the press brief were Bissoondyal Singh, Roger Harper, Claude Raphael, Angela Haniff, Floyd Benjamin, Ravendranauth Saywack, Clayton Van Hersel, Marvin Burns, Raymond Barton, Malcolm Peters and Leslie Solomon.
The NCSG called the press briefing to address an article that was published in some sections of the media on Thursday, issuing a press statement headlined “Pubic being deliberately misled on impact in Guyana cricket”, which was read by Haniff.
According to Williams, there is a Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), since that entity is a principal of the three county boards, namely the Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo Cricket Boards respectively, adding that the NCSG represents 80% of the stakeholders of Guyana’s cricket.
“You know of Berbice and in Demerara which has its four constituent members, the more powerful of this force is the Georgetown Cricket Association which is probably the best in the Caribbean and East Coast, with the other two being East Bank and West Demerara.”
He added, “You would understand that if we pit Georgetown and East Coast combined, the cricket strength and ability to promote cricket, against West Demerara and East Bank, you would understand why we say we have 80%.
A large percentage of Guyana’s cricketers come from Berbice, Georgetown and the East Coast of Demerara. Look also at the clubs that are available in Guyana, the first division clubs and you would see 80 to 90% of those clubs featuring pitches, pavilions, dressing rooms and sight screens coming from Berbice, East Coast and Georgetown, so when we boast of having 80% of the cricket strength in Guyana, that is not an idle boast.
“If you have such a strong cricket structure, why should you be excluded from cricket administration in a cricket-loving country?” asked Williams.
He said the NCSG is working assiduously to introduce the Upper Demerara Cricket Association (UDCA) as the fifth arm of the Demerara Cricket Board, adding that Upper Demerara is a huge community with over 40 000 persons.
“The UDCA has a Constitution of their own since 2000 and they have an executive body in place, with former West Indies cricketer Basil Butcher being the signature to the initial Constitution, while they have produced such players as Dr Vincent Adams, Orin Gordon, Lambert Blackman, Vibert Johashen, Anthony Rigby and Mark Grenville among others.
The grave injustice is that body is not attached to any cricket body. They are like orphans as they are not attached to the GCB, DCB or East Bank, which means we have a large community of 40 000 people playing cricket contributing to the development of the sport in Guyana, but totally unattached and that is a blatant injustice, one we are seeking to rectify by having the UDCA incorporated as the fifth arm of the DCB.”
Members of the media who were present at yesterday’s briefing, were furnished with several documents by the NCSG, one of which was Certificate of Incorporation issued under the Companies Act of Guyana, which showed the DCB being registered under the Companies Act of Guyana on 25th of November 2011, under the name D.C.B., Inc.
“The assets of the DCB have been transferred over to this illegal incorporated body, while they are receiving subventions from the Guyana Cricket Board. What I am establishing here is the incestuous relationship between the GCB, the Raj Singh faction of the DCB and the DCB Inc.” said one official at the head table.
Haniff said since the GCB elections that were held two years ago, where Ramsay Ali was elected to head that body, the BCB has not received any funds or subventions from the GCB, even though the ECB and the Raj Singh faction of the DCB were benefiting, which is a clear indication of victimisation.
“We at the BCB are not comfortable with what is taking place and we are calling on the Government of Guyana to enforce the law on those persons who are found to be in contempt of court,” stated Haniff, who later declared that she was served with a letter of dismissal from a well known GCB official.
In questioning the decision taken by the purported members of the GCB, Singh said it is grossly impossible for them to say they are working to solve the problem that has been affecting the DCB, since such an act cannot be genuine as it would not be neutral.
“The stakeholders of Guyana cricket went throughout Guyana, from the top of Berbice to Linden and the DCB matter was discussed in-depth, where everyone present came up with a formula that has now gone to Parliament and handed over to a Parliamentary Select Committee that is made up of 9 persons.
“If you are going to fix cricket now in Parliament and legalise it properly, then everybody, meaning Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice have got to be involved and so there is a formula as to how you can break this deadlock,” said Singh.
He added, “These persons are going around the place and telling people the Government wanted to take over cricket in Guyana.
“That is a blatant lie, as we had written the Government on numerous occasions when the matters got out of hand and it took them (Government) over six months to act. If they wanted to get involved, they would have done so from the inception.”
Like Singh, both Harper and Raphael believe that the solving of the DCB would amicably bring a solution to the impasse that is currently facing the GCB and called on those involved to do so expeditiously in the interest of cricket in Guyana.
One common aim that was achieved from yesterday’s press briefing was the calling on the Government of Guyana to enforce the law on those who are fond in contempt of court, irrespective of their status, since they have showed scant and blatant disrespect for the laws of Guyana.
More from this press briefing, including ideas which surfaced towards the rectifying of the DCB problem, will be published in tomorrow’s edition of Chronicle Sport, including Raphael’s recommendation on voting rights.