… in process of naming a new Cricket Ombudsman

THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has not had a proper constituted or what many observers have labelled “free and fair” elections for the past ten years, and as a result the manner in which cricket is administered in Guyana has been the topic for much discussion.

However, Minister of Social Cohesion with the responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton, said while the current administration remains firm to bring a swift resolution to the current situation, staging of the GCB elections was faced with a major setback with the resignation of Guyana’s first-ever Cricket Ombudsman Dr Winston McGowan.

Dr McGowan was appointed in 2005 by then Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony and his appointment was subsequently approved by the-then Cabinet.
He was previously charged with overseeing the elections of the various county boards and the GCB, in accordance with the Cricket Administration Act which was successfully passed in the National Assembly by the previous government in May 2014, and assented to by then President Donald Ramotar in August of that year.

However, Dr Norton during an exclusive interview pointed out that he is in the process of appointing a new Cricket Ombudsman who will eventually pave the way for the long overdue GCB elections.

“I have informed Cricket West Indies (CWI) of my intention. That is Mr Dave Cameron (president of Cricket West Indies), who acknowledged my letter, because I am trying to communicate with all the stakeholders, and I thought that CWI is an important stakeholder. The same thing was done to the president of the GCB. A letter was sent to him, and of course local stakeholders since I just want the cricket issues to be settled in the most appropriate way,” Minister Norton revealed.

This latest development by Dr Norton can be seen as a significant step towards regularising the administration of the sport.

The GCB has not held elections since 2009 owing to the numerous court injunctions.
However, Elections at the GCB level were made possible after the injunction against the Cricket Administration Act by the Guyana Cricket Board was quashed sometime in July last year.

That decision by the court had led a group of cricket stakeholders to mount a peaceful protest in front of the Attorney General’s Chambers last July 26, calling for government’s intervention in bringing some semblance of normalcy to the manner in which the game is managed in Guyana.

The group had unanimously called for free and fair elections to be held at the Guyana Cricket Board.