GCB Dictatorship and Keith Semple

There was a letter by a Concerned Fan in both the Chronicle and the Stabroek News of December 19 made two essential points.

The first is that "institutional authoritarianism" has taken hold in the administration of the Guyana Cricket Board, and the second is the principled position that Keith Semple took in protesting against the meager pickings insultingly offered to him and the other players for the just ended inter-county competition.

Let us take the last point first. Keith Semple has acquired the dignity of having worn the West Indian cap. He therefore has every right to resist every effort to diminish him as a cricketer and as a human being.

It is an insult in these days when cricketers are paid according to their ability to offer someone a slave's wage who has represented the West Indies. And the point must be made that those who sponsor cricket in Guyana should do so in a way that cricketers of Semple's ability and stature are adequately compensated or remunerated. Or they should not undertake the task at all.

Semple's principled position has highlighted the Board's attitude towards him. A few facts would be in order. On the eve of the South African tour in 1998, it was, according to my information, conveyed to the GCB, that the selectors of the WICB had an interest in Semple and were therefore considering him for possible selection. This was never conveyed to him. It was Clive Lloyd who took it on himself to seek Semple out and let him know that he was a possible candidate for the West Indies English team and, I believe, a Guyana XI that Clive Lloyd spent the better part of half an hour telling Semple about his chances for the West Indies team and encouraging him to improve his game.

Let me take this point further. The Guyana selectors and administrators must know that Keith Semple and Travis Dowling are likely prospects for the West Indies tour to Pakistan once they do well in the forthcoming Busta tournament. To deny Semple the right to represent his country and stake his claim is an act of spite and cynicism. Ironically, having accepted Semple's argument the Board then proceeds to punish him.

It is worth examining the excuses which have been offered by the Board for not calling up Semple for the national trials. At first it was because he had refused to captain the Demerara team for the pittance that he was offered. This is nonsense. Several players over the years who have not been near a cricket field in local or regional competitions have been drafted into the Guyana team.

Vishal Nagamootoo is the most recent case in point. Nagamootoo walked into the Guyana side straight off a plain from New York. The second lame and untenable excuse is the one peddled through the rumour mill and that is that Semple is about to get married and move abroad with his intended. If this criteria were to be implemented with any vigour, then it would be impossible to field a credible Guyana XI.

This is a disturbing aspect of the GCB's modus operandi. Ever so often by rumour or innuendo the reputation of players and some administrators are tarnished and called into question.

The GCB must be courageous and principled enough to face the public and say without any ambiguity the real reasons for leaving Semple out of the Guyana squad. Anything less would amount to cowardice and moral poltroonery. In any case it is not for a selection panel to determine a player's eligibility for selection. The panel should act on the basis of formal communication from the Board that a player must not be considered for selection. It would be instructive to learn whether the Guyana selectors were in receipt of such communication from the GCB. I ask that question now.

At this point we can return to the question of institutional authoritarianism. It is difficult to fool Guyana about what is going on in almost every field of endeavour. Cricket is no exception. Most people know, despite efforts to prove the contrary, that the move against Semple came from the top. Let there be no mistake about this. The quackery that selectors were left to do their job will not pass muster. I have said it before and I say it again that the Board is a dictatorship.

As a Concerned Fan said in his letter, anybody who offends the Board is either banished or sent to Coventry. The roll cal is long and contains some illustrious names. But I shall only name a few: Ivor Mendonca, a former test player and an acknowledged student of the game; Lion Stewart, who represented Guyana with great credit in the 1970s and whose principled break with the Board should stand as a lesson to the current selectors.

The fact of the matter is the GCB has become a law unto itself and because the significant elements of this hierarchy has the electoral numbers in its pocket it believes that it can get away with murder. Those who colluded in the carefully orchestrated plan which led the restructuring of Guyana's cricket and in the process gave undue weight to the area boards are now reaping a bitter harvest.

The Board has no option but to do the honourable thing. Keith Semple must be recalled. And in this connection, I expect the DCC to exert its not inconsiderable influence on behalf of one of its finest sons.

Yours faithfully,

RM Austin

* This letter was first published in Guyana's Stabroek News daily newspaper.