.jpg)
INAUGURAL president of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) and former long serving president of Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) Claude Raphael believes that the best way to solve the problems within the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) is to have the first division clubs attached to the various associations within that body, exercise their right to vote. Raphael was at the time, fielding questions from the media fraternity at the Manila Hotel, Pere Street Kitty last Saturday, where the National Cricket Stakeholders Group (NCSG) held a 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”.
In that article, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) said it is moving to set up a committee in order to repair the fractured DCB which was split into two factions in 2011, among other issues affecting the sport locally.
Also present at the press briefing were Bissoondyal Singh, Roger Harper, Angela Haniff, Floyd Benjamin, Ravendranauth Saywack, Clayton Van Hersel, Marvin Burns, Raymond Barton, Malcolm Peters and Leslie Solomon.
However, the NCSG is contending that the GCB’s move is now bent on further disrespect, by ignoring the Parliamentary process that has begun, and is intended to bring relief to the chaos in Guyana’s cricket, adding that the GCB’s remedy would also create problems.
Said Raphael, “There must be willingness shown from both sides, the NCSG and the GCB, to resolve the issues affecting the GCB, as more than 50% of the GCB along with the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) had a problem with the GCB, as we all observed the grand dictatorship and take over of cricket in Guyana.
I cannot see that the GCB moved to have a committee set up to resolve the DCB issue as one being possible or practicable, especially since the exciting GCB has a close relationship with one faction of the DCB, and moreover, both the GCB and that faction are injuncted. Certainly the GCB is not the right body in its present capacity to resolve the DCB issue.”
According to the press release issued by the NCSG, there is a fundamental problem in the DCB and that is the loose system of establishing the voter representation of its constituent members: the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB), the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association (EBDCA) and the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA).
That system allocates seven voting delegates per constituent member and one additional voting delegate for every five clubs or part thereof that played in a competition of the DCB during the preceding year.
The release further indicated that the system is clearly flawed and has created much contention as some Associations scrambled up “makeshift teams” and created “phantom clubs” for the sole purpose of increasing their voting representation.
“We know the first division clubs who are playing cricket under the auspices of their respective associations, so “makeshift teams” and “phantom clubs” who are created in the interest for the sole purpose of voting rights, cannot work.
“I say without fear and favour, let the first division clubs decide who they want to run cricket in Demerara and we the stakeholders respect their decision, irrespective of who comes out on top,” stated Raphael, whose comment brought nods from his colleagues at the head table.
In 2003, the outcome of the DCB elections resulted in a court action. Justice Aubrey Bishop eventually arbitrated in that matter and presented his judgment which established that the GCA and the ECCB had more voting delegates than the EBDCA and WDCA.
Again in 2010, the outcome of the DCB elections ended up in court with two factions claiming to be the rightful Demerara board.
The DCB matter was discussed extensively at the many stakeholders’ meetings held around the country and a decision was taken for there to be clear guidelines in the Constitution of the DCB to establish voter representation.
President of the East Coast Cricket Board, Bissoondyal Singh, said that a proper constituted DCB should be looked at first, adding that the stakeholder sessions offered important solutions to the cricket crisis at both the DCB and the GCB level, with documentation being done for submission and consideration during the Parliamentary process.
“Now that the bill has gone to parliament, the stakeholders will submit their recommendation to the select committee that will solve the problems of the DCB , so you will have three properly constituted county boards that will eventually lead to a properly constituted GCB,” posited Singh.
The members of the NCSG believe the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) should have set up a committee of its members outside of Guyana, to look into and investigate the numerous accusations that were levelled against the GCB.
“For its part, the WICB has shown total disregard for the Laws of Guyana, the sovereignty and the cricket stakeholders of Guyana as they continue to aid and abet the illegality in Guyana’s cricket, and despite strenuous appeals by the stakeholders, the WICB refused to investigate the serious charges of corruption, choosing instead to readily accept the illegal GCB executive.”
Another point that was readily agreed upon by the members of the NCSG is the bringing to an end of the impasse within the GCB, so that cricketers, cricket lovers and ardent fans of the game can see the return of cricket, albeit, at the Regional and international level, to Guyana.
In that article, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) said it is moving to set up a committee in order to repair the fractured DCB which was split into two factions in 2011, among other issues affecting the sport locally.
Also present at the press briefing were Bissoondyal Singh, Roger Harper, Angela Haniff, Floyd Benjamin, Ravendranauth Saywack, Clayton Van Hersel, Marvin Burns, Raymond Barton, Malcolm Peters and Leslie Solomon.
However, the NCSG is contending that the GCB’s move is now bent on further disrespect, by ignoring the Parliamentary process that has begun, and is intended to bring relief to the chaos in Guyana’s cricket, adding that the GCB’s remedy would also create problems.
Said Raphael, “There must be willingness shown from both sides, the NCSG and the GCB, to resolve the issues affecting the GCB, as more than 50% of the GCB along with the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) had a problem with the GCB, as we all observed the grand dictatorship and take over of cricket in Guyana.
I cannot see that the GCB moved to have a committee set up to resolve the DCB issue as one being possible or practicable, especially since the exciting GCB has a close relationship with one faction of the DCB, and moreover, both the GCB and that faction are injuncted. Certainly the GCB is not the right body in its present capacity to resolve the DCB issue.”
According to the press release issued by the NCSG, there is a fundamental problem in the DCB and that is the loose system of establishing the voter representation of its constituent members: the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB), the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association (EBDCA) and the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA).
That system allocates seven voting delegates per constituent member and one additional voting delegate for every five clubs or part thereof that played in a competition of the DCB during the preceding year.
The release further indicated that the system is clearly flawed and has created much contention as some Associations scrambled up “makeshift teams” and created “phantom clubs” for the sole purpose of increasing their voting representation.
“We know the first division clubs who are playing cricket under the auspices of their respective associations, so “makeshift teams” and “phantom clubs” who are created in the interest for the sole purpose of voting rights, cannot work.
“I say without fear and favour, let the first division clubs decide who they want to run cricket in Demerara and we the stakeholders respect their decision, irrespective of who comes out on top,” stated Raphael, whose comment brought nods from his colleagues at the head table.
In 2003, the outcome of the DCB elections resulted in a court action. Justice Aubrey Bishop eventually arbitrated in that matter and presented his judgment which established that the GCA and the ECCB had more voting delegates than the EBDCA and WDCA.
Again in 2010, the outcome of the DCB elections ended up in court with two factions claiming to be the rightful Demerara board.
The DCB matter was discussed extensively at the many stakeholders’ meetings held around the country and a decision was taken for there to be clear guidelines in the Constitution of the DCB to establish voter representation.
President of the East Coast Cricket Board, Bissoondyal Singh, said that a proper constituted DCB should be looked at first, adding that the stakeholder sessions offered important solutions to the cricket crisis at both the DCB and the GCB level, with documentation being done for submission and consideration during the Parliamentary process.
“Now that the bill has gone to parliament, the stakeholders will submit their recommendation to the select committee that will solve the problems of the DCB , so you will have three properly constituted county boards that will eventually lead to a properly constituted GCB,” posited Singh.
The members of the NCSG believe the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) should have set up a committee of its members outside of Guyana, to look into and investigate the numerous accusations that were levelled against the GCB.
“For its part, the WICB has shown total disregard for the Laws of Guyana, the sovereignty and the cricket stakeholders of Guyana as they continue to aid and abet the illegality in Guyana’s cricket, and despite strenuous appeals by the stakeholders, the WICB refused to investigate the serious charges of corruption, choosing instead to readily accept the illegal GCB executive.”
Another point that was readily agreed upon by the members of the NCSG is the bringing to an end of the impasse within the GCB, so that cricketers, cricket lovers and ardent fans of the game can see the return of cricket, albeit, at the Regional and international level, to Guyana.
