“WE are duty-bound by the rules under our constitution to hold our AGM in January, as advised, which have now been further strengthened with the force of the legislation,” said president of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Drubahadur at a press conference yesterday, following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) pavilion. 

There has been much debate over the legality of the AGM even since the Cricket Administration Bill was enacted last year in the National Assembly, having been supported unanimously by both the Government of Guyana and the Opposition parties.
The Cricket Administration Bill which was presented by Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony to the National Assembly, was drafted after extensive consultations with all stakeholders, and, more so, following recommendations in a ruling made by the High Court.
Accordingly, the Bill makes it legal for the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to be established as a corporate body comprising the Demerara, Essequibo and the Berbice cricket boards, all of which will also be made corporate entities.
A section of the Bill addresses the issue of phantom voting for the election of persons to administrative positions and at the same time gives limited power to the Minister of Sport.
The National Assembly, at the time of the legislation, was also told that the Bill provides for better financial accountability. As such, the GCB, under this new legislation will be required to present timely, audited financial reports to the National Assembly as well as to the National Sports Commission.
But this (report to the National Assembly) could not have been done as the prorogation took precedence.
When President Ramotar assented to the Bill, Guyana joined two other Caribbean nations, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados which made the governing bodies for cricket legal entities.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s first-ever Cricket Ombudsman, the distinguished historian Dr Winston McGowan had stated in one section of the media, based on the fact that there are now laws at the highest level of the land governing the game, they must be adhered to.
Head of Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, on January 7 when announcing Dr McGowan as the country’s Cricket Ombudsman, explained that among his responsibilities as the Cricket Ombudsman, Dr McGowan is responsible for the elections of the recognised cricketing organisations in Guyana of their officials.
Essentially, in accordance with the cricket administration law, the elections of officers of these recognised cricketing organisations would be conducted by a cricket ombudsman.
However, yesterday, the GCB explained that there was no need for Dr McGowan since they didn’t have an election, and the respective positions saw the same people being returned.
“The GCB made a conscious decision to proceed with its legally constituted AGM today, as advertised a month ago, and upon reviewing the GCB constitution contained in the said Act, we realised that there was no need for an elections component for our AGM.
The Constitution provides that nominations for all the positions that make up the Executive Committee must be done at the October Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) preceding the January AGM, along with resumés of those persons nominated,” the GCB president told the media.
He further explained that: “There was only a single nomination for the elected officers of the Board hence there was no need for an election today. The Minister has uselessly reserved the right to set the date for the elections of the GCB as stated in Article 17 of the said Act. It is a very simple technicality but very significant.”
Drubahadur had lashed out at the Cricket Administration Act, calling is “fraught with numerous inconsistencies and contradictions and will create more chaos than which currently exists. After careful examination by our experts, (the Bill) was found to be severely flawed and was, thus, rejected by both the GCB and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)”.

(By Rawle Toney)