MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jnr has given his stamp of approval to the BIGMAN CRICKET-Guyana (BMC-G) tournament which was initially scheduled for later this month.

Ramson congratulated BMC-G on its initiative and wished it success in the venture.

The Over-45, 25-over competition was recently shun by governing cricketing body, the Guyana Cricket Board, on the grounds that it would have infringed on its sanctioned Over-40 competition.

Former GCB official Raj Singh, who is a director of the BMC-G stated in a release yesterday that the decision by the GCB was “mostly frivolous, vexatious and anti-cricket”.

The seasoned administrator noted that he had already obtained permission from the Ministry of Health-COVID-19 Task Force and had only applied to the GCB for its “blessings”.

“It is public knowledge that the GCB has never held an Over-40 competition countrywide in its 77 years of existence. The BMC-G did not have an issue with such a tournament as the BMC is an Over-45 tournament and the GCB Tournament could have served well as a feeder competition for our Over-45s BMC domestic cricket and our Over-50s Regional cricket.”

Singh noted that the GCB also had an issued with late application, which he said was a management decision due to the uncertain environment created by the pandemic.

“The BMC-G thought it wise to obtain the COVID Task Force approval first prior to approaching the GCB for its blessings. It was obvious that if that permission wasn’t obtained it did not make any sense whatsoever to approach the GCB.”

NOT NECESSARY

Minister Ramson, who is also an Attorney-at-law, noted in a letter to Singh that approval for the tournament by the GCB might not even be necessary.

“As it relates to the other issues raised therein, regardless of any arrogating appreciation to the contrary, it is important to be advised, as I hereby do, that the approval or imprimatur for any sport tournament by respective sport Associations/Federations, while inherently beneficial, is not strictly required unless it is a vehicle for advancement within the structure of a world/international sport body.”

The Minister added that cricket and its administration is under the radar of his ministry.

“In addition, it is also important to be advised that the extant status of the Guyana Cricket Board is in a state of flux as a result of the recent restoration of all of the provisions of the Cricket Administration Act 2014 previous irregularly suspended. Every effort is being made to return legitimacy to the process and the Ministry is monitoring the situation very closely.”

Some 10 teams have signed on for the Over-45 competition, which was originally scheduled to start on November 15 at various venues across the country.