PRESIDENT of the Blairmont Cricket Club, Shabeer Baksh, said he is baffled by the criteria used to select the West Berbice franchise team, adding that transparency in the selection remains questionable. Baksh is questioning the selection process, and at the same time is of the view that the Blairmont Cricket Club is unfairly treated.
“Based on the West Berbice franchise make-up during the three-day version of the league, definitely there seems to be some issue with the transparency in the selection process,” Baksh hinted.
He added, “During the three-day version of the league there was a squad of 18 players, of which 13 were from Achievers, two from Blairmont, one from Port Mourant and three central contact players; so who were the persons responsible for selecting the team and what were the criteria used?
Baksh is also puzzled, with regard to the two squads selected for this weekend practice game, which will be used to select the West Berbice franchise team for the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Jaguars Franchise League one-day tournament.
“The club is unaware of the practice game, in fact, I was made aware of the game through the media. Again the selections of those players are unknown to the club, and to make matters worse, out of the 28 players called up, only four are from Blairmont,” Baksh said.
Meanwhile, a comment from president of the West Berbice Cricket Association, David Black, was not obtained.
Further Territorial Development Officer (TDO) of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Colin Stuart, disclosed yesterday that the squad for each franchise is selected by the committee appointed by the GCB.
The former West Indies fast bowler indicted that the committee is made up of personnel from the GCB’s cricket development committee, competitions committee, the coaches for the respective franchise, and where possible the franchise representative.
According to Stuart, the GCB can also include any other personnel from the league area who they feel will make a valuable contribution towards the selection process.