THE Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) move to appoint a Cricket Ombudsman on Thursday evening at an Extraordinary Meeting has now put the manner in which cricket is administered in Guyana, in further dismay with Minister of Social Cohesion with the responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton, set to seek legal advice on the way forward.
According to a GCB’s release yesterday, Attorney-at-Law Stephen Lewis was appointed the new Cricket Ombudsman.
However, according to a close source from the Minister’s office, the GCB may be acting illegally with the appointment of Lewis.
“The matter is being looked at … with the minister seeking legal advice,” the source said last evening.
The GCB went ahead with the appointment owing to the Guyana Cricket Administration Act #14 of 2014, Article 10 of the Act, which states that “there shall be an authority known as the Cricket Ombudsman who shall hold office for a period of three years after the Ombudsman has been elected by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at an extraordinary meeting of the Guyana Cricket Board..
However, Dr Norton during an exclusive interview earlier in the year had 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 had revealed.
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.
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 the-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.
The GCB has not held elections since 2009 owing to the numerous court injunctions.
Meanwhile, Lewis was the most successful candidate, gaining majority of the votes, against retired Chancellor Justice Cecil Kennard.
Lewis began reading for an LLB Law degree at the University of Guyana (2002), after which he graduated from Hugh Wooding Law School, in Trinidad and Tobago (2005).
He is no stranger to the GCB, having served as a member of the GCB Disciplinary Committee for multiple years through which he clearly became acquainted with the constitution governing the GCB.
Not only was he affiliated with cricket, but he served on the electoral panel at the Guyana Football Federation. As a consequence, delegates at the recently held GCB’s extraordinary meeting saw him qualified for this position.
Lewis is expected to fulfil his duties using his knowledge and proficiency in law and legal operations of the GCB. He will be tasked with conducting the verification of cricket clubs across Guyana and to ensure that elections are properly constituted. He will also act as the returning officer, if necessary.
