Thaindian News

Georgetown (Guyana), Dec 28 (IANS/CMC) Deep concern was expressed over the Guyana Government’s decision to supersede the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and appoint an interim committee to run the game in the country.

The government decision to form an Interim Management Committee follows a ruling by Chief Justice Ian Chang in August in a legal challenge over the legitimacy of the GCB executive after the last annual general meeting and election of office-bearers.

“As I learnt about the formation of the Interim Management Committee, my mind turned to what are the implications for cricket in Guyana, along with the players and the cricket loving public in Guyana,” said noted cricket commentator Reds Perreira.

The Guyana-born veteran sports presenter and administrator said he hoped that the game did not suffer since that could hurt a number of key West Indies players.

“Apart from the players who are preparing for the domestic tournaments, what about Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Devendra Bishoo’s places in the West Indies team,” said the St. Lucia-based Perreira.

“What about Ramnaresh Sarwan’s comeback? He is good enough to do that once he works hard enough and even Veerasammy Permaul’s ascendancy.”

Perreira said he hoped the government had given a thought to the implications of their decision before going ahead and forming the IMC.

“I gather the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had initially objected to the setting up of the IMC,” he said.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) is opposed to government intervention in cricket the administration, and it has told both Pakistan and Sri Lanka that it is not happy with their governments appointing their cricket boards.

Perreira said he also expected the WICB to take a dim view of the government’s decision and questioned the appointment of West Indies legend and WICB non-executive director Clive Lloyd as IMC chairman. Lloyd is also the chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee.

“The WICB will probably respond soon and while I must say that I have the greatest of respect for Lloyd, who has been appointed Chairman of the IMC, I would love to hear his take on the issue, especially knowing that he knows the ICC’s position,” said Perreira.

Perreira said he was also concerned about the GCB not being a legal entity when it functioned successfully for a number of years.

“What if the WICB takes away from Guyana the first class matches along with the Australian tour of Guyana in April. Also who will run the first class season and the Australian tour,” asked Perreira.

–IANS/CMC
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