by Frederick Halley

AFTER serving the sport of cricket, both as a player and administrator for the past 45 years and still continuing to do so at various levels, Guyanese-born Praim Persaud is slated to be inducted into the United States of America Cricket Hall of Fame when the 39^th annual ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 3.

Unlike previous ceremonies, this year’s induction will be done via Zoom on Maq TV due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has plagued most countries since March.

Persaud, is credited to have contributed to the growth, development and visibility of cricket in two Canadian provinces – Montreal Quebec, for almost 10 years and Ontario, mainly in the Brampton, Mississauga, Toronto, Etobicoke and other cities and districts for the last 35 plus years and counting.

The ebullient and hard-working Persaud has recently been appointed as a Special Advisor on Cricket to the Mayor of Brampton Patrick Brown and have successfully forged a very rewarding partnership with city council and all  respective stakeholders of planning, development, infrastructure and funding, as well as parks and maintenance – all of whom are now committed to working with on the current and future growth of cricket in the City.

According to Persaud he also worked with previous mayors and city representatives to build the Brampton-Etobicoke & District Cricket League (BEDC) from 18 teams to a massive 157 teams, by far the largest in Canada. The cricket facilities have also saw an increase from three privately owned entities to 17 and counting.

Currently the Vice-president of Cricket Ontario after serving previously as President, Persaud pointed out that he intends to continue his voluntary services to the sport at both the League and Cricket Ontario at the Provincial Level.

His aim is to ensure that cricket is finally recognised by all governments, municipalities and city administration as one of the main stream sports that deserves both the respect and due attention as other mainline Canadian recognized sports.

Persaud also wants all levels of government begin to account for cricket in its Annual Fiscal Budget at both its administrative and operational levels to factor in financial allocations for the type of facilities to develop cricketers who can compete on the same level as others in other developing associates countries who have grown in both stature and quality due to their improved infrastructure.

Persaud intends to focus his energies in building an Ontario administration that is functional under and ‘open’ governance philosophy and is inclusive to all who are willing to volunteer their services under the guidelines of transparency, cooperation and for the benefit of all and not be driven by self-interest and self-motivation.

The Cricket Hall of Fame was founded in 1981 to honour those who have made outstanding performances in the sport, to help foster the game’s growth and development in the USA,and also those who have made recognizable contributions in their communities.

Among past inductees were former West Indies president Dave Cameron, current West Indies Cricket Director Jimmy Adams, Sir Clive Lloyd, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Wesley Hall, Sir Vivian Richards, Joel Garner, Alvin Kallicharran, Sir Gordon Greenidge, the late Basil Butcher, Courtney Walsh, Joseph Solomon, Colin Croft, Jeffrey Dujon, the late Tony Becca, umpire Stephen Bucknor and Lance Gibbs.