… BCB top post still under consideration

POPULAR cricket administrator Hilbert Foster yesterday weighed in on the numerous calls whether he should run as a presidential candidate in the upcoming election reserved for the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), which is scheduled for October 8.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections of the BCB was made possible by a ruling delivered by Justice Navindra Singh last September 8, with the purpose of electing officer-bearers of the board.
But Foster said yesterday that he is still mulling over whether to run for the top post since it will take a superhuman effort to lift Berbice cricket.
“I am still considering whether to run,” Foster said.
He added, “Berbice cricket at such a low level, it will take a superhuman effort to lift it up, but once I consider and win, and with the right team, a turnaround can happen in six months”.

Just recently at the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club’s 27th annual awards ceremony, Foster had pointed out that Berbice cricket is in disarray due to the lust for power, both at the county and national levels.
Foster, who is the CEO of Guyana’s leading sports club, had also mentioned that Berbice cricket is run by people who have no vision, no capacity to manage and are in charge, despite not being elected to do so.
To this end, and with the elections for office-bearers now looming, former West Indies cricketers Ramnaresh Sarwan and Mahendra Nagamootoo as well as Region Six Chairman David Armogan, have thrown their support behind Foster, saying Foster should be the preferred presidential candidate.
Those endorsements are just a few, according to Foster, who said he’s heartened by the overwhelming support from clubs, associations, cricketers, local leaders, business entities, as well as a number of politicians.

Meanwhile, should Foster confirm his running, and should he become the BCB president, cricket in abundance at all levels will be his main priority.
“My main aim is to host 20 tournaments every year from the Under-13 level right up to senior … over 100 off-field activities under different sub heads will be in the pipe line. Also I will ensure that each cricket club in Berbice has cricket on a regular basis so that our cricketers can benefit,” Foster concluded.
The elections will be the first since 2014. The BCB was thrown into turmoil a few months after the December 2014 elections, after applicants Godwyn Allicock of the Port Mourant Cricket Club and David Black of the West Berbice Cricket Association sought and were granted a court injunction against the BCB which significantly limited the work of the-then Anil Beharry-led administration.

However, after the BCB one-year term expired in December 2015, according to what is stipulated in the Cricket Administration Bill, Beharry resigned from the post in January of this year.
Elected vice-president Dhieranidranauth Somwaru is performing duties as acting president, since he had informed Chronicle Sport in a subsequent interview that the injunction against the BCB was subsequently withdrawn.