HIS Excellency, President David Granger has been asked to “rescind” the appointment of Attorney-at-Law Stephen Lewis, as the Cricket Ombudsman, by the group ‘Majority Cricket Stakeholders’, as a matter of decency to cricket locally.

Lewis, a former president of the Everest Cricket Club (ECC), was appointed by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) back in May, 2018 at an Extraordinary Meeting but after months of legal advice sought by Dr Norton, Lewis’ appointment was recently confirmed and this has now put the administration of the game in further dismay.

During a press conference on Wednesday at the Malteenoes Sports Club, the Stakeholders called for the President’s intervention.
It’s no secret that the Stakeholders had over the last couple of years been feuding with the current GCB administration over their publicly documented issues in the sport.
In fact, a few Court injunctions were served against GCB in recent times.

Only recently Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), had challenged the legality of Lewis’ appointment. Subsequently, the court had halted the appointment of Lewis and an interim injunction was granted.

At the head table during the press briefing were representatives from the East Coast Cricket Board, Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), BCB and Upper Demerara Cricket Association.
Roger Harper, president of the GCA, expressed his disappointment and displeasure at the act.

“What we need is strong leadership to resolve our issue but that is not the case. Mr Cameron (president of Cricket West Indies), was never willing to meet with the stakeholders here to try to resolve the issue. I just hope that the upcoming CWI elections could pave the way for some decency in our game both regionally and locally,” Harper said.
President of the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB), Bissoondyal Singh in his remarks said cricket is a business where it provides a livelihood for many people, adding that the Minister’s decision to confirm Lewis is a mockery to the law.

Meanwhile, secretary of BCB, Rabindranauth Saywack, believes Lewis failed to uphold the injunction, and is making a mockery of his appointment.
The GCB has not had a properly constituted, or what many observers have labelled, “free and fair” elections for the past ten years.

Staging of 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.