Accountability and the Guyana Cricket Board

It is unfortunate that every attempt to initiate a debate on the state of cricket in Guyana or the competence of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) descends into rancour. No one lightly criticizes an institution such as the GCB, which is part of the web of institutions of our society. Such a step is only taken when it is perceived that the activities of the Board have become a danger to the game itself. But criticism of the Board has drawn no constructive reaction but abuse, and as I shall later show, threats. This strong reaction can only mean that vested interests are now so finely intertwined with the administration of cricket that an attack on the Board is regarded as an attack on those interests.

It is against this background that I have read the letters which appeared in the March 1st issue of Guyana's Stabroek News and the March 3rd issue of the Guyana Chronicle written by Mr. Edward Skeete of the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) and a certain L. Jordan, respectively. Although both letters seek to defend the GCB and what it has allegedly achieved under Chetram Singh?s presidency, they are very much in contrast. The first is coarse in tone and seems to reflect the views of an ascerbic panjandrum of the GCB; indeed, significant aspects of its contents had served as a basis for the abuse of Guyana?s greatest batsman, Rohan Kanhai, at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) after the annual general meeting of the GCB in December last year. A Barbadian who witnessed this incident has already commented on its atrocity in an issue of the Kaieteur newspaper. No further comment is necessary. Suffice it to say that the person concerned comes under Chetram Singh?s direct supervision and to the best of my knowledge he has not been reprimanded or made to apologise to Rohan Kanhai.

The second letter is much more civil in tone and can serve as a jumping off point for meaningful discourse as to who is fit or not fit to lead the GCB. However, both letters are disfigured by what are blatant falsehoods, which are clearly intended to mislead the public. Another point: As I was not particularly inclined to get into the business of responding to a phantom, I tried my best to ascertain if L. Jordan exists. I must confess that in a country where everything and everyone is known, the man appears to have escaped detection and recognition.

As both letters are essentially a defence of the Board and its President, I shall not answer the individual arguments separately but focus on the second letter, which as I said is much more conducive to some kind of civilised dialogue. But there are two particular falsehoods in Skeete?s letter, which must be demolished.

Three people met Skeete in my office in the year 2000: Basil Butcher, Jeff Singh, and myself. Based on what Skeete said in his letter, I decided to check with both of my colleagues to see if the notes that I took on that occasion reflected his contention that he "suggested that Butcher should seek to become a member of one of the area Boards in which he can demonstrate his administrative abilities". Not surprisingly, neither Basil Butcher nor Jeff Singh can recall any such request. My notes are completely silent on the matter. There can be no recollection nor any reflection of this suggestion as it was never made. In any case, Butcher would have summarily rejected any such condition for the support of the ECB. What in fact happened was that Butcher outlined to Skeete what plans he had for cricket in Essequibo should he be elected President of the Board. In particular, Butcher had told Skeete that it was his intention to do what was necessary, including getting Rohan Kanhai to coach in the ancient county, in order, first, to have an Essequibo player on the Guyana team and later on the West Indies cricket team. Butcher was determined, as far as cricket is concerned, to end Essequibo?s status as the Cinderella County. Skeete promised to discuss our ideas with certain members of the ECB. But he enjoined us not to let certain members of his Board know that he had met us. Skeete has taken the dangerous course of revealing the contents of a confidential encounter. He must bear the consequences. Skeete, finally, has my sympathy: those who are au fait with what is going on in our cricketing circles know why he has to ?dance to the tune? of the GCB.

The argument made by Skeete that non-cricketers on the current Executive Board of the International Cricket Conference (ICC) voids the thesis that only cricketers can administer the game is indicative of a misunderstanding. The Rev. Wes Hall is the only cricketer on the executive because the WICB has decided to reverse its position and to have cricketers administer the game. In any case, the executive members of the ICC are always careful to have advisors who have played cricket at the senior level. I can assure Skeete that if he examines the executive board in a few years from now, he will discover that there will be more cricketers there than previously. The tide is turning.

L. Jordan makes many claims for Chetram Singh. He has every right to do so, if he believes what he says. That is his business. What he must not expect is that everyone would be ensnared by his propaganda. Among the claims made is that under Singh?s presidency, Guyana won many competitions at the Under-15, Under-19 and National levels. It is at this point one wonders whether L. Jordan is serious or he is allowing his comedic talents full reign. For everyone knows that these achievements are attributable to good managers, coaches and players, and not to the Board?s competence. What can be dismissed too is that Singh is single-handedly responsible for taking the GCB out of its indebtedness. Again, it is clear that L. Jordan does not know what he is talking about. One does not deny that Singh played a part in restoring the Board to financial health but he had the expert and competent assistance of Beni Sankar, Sherlock Atwell, ?Rocky? Mann, and, most of all, the late Neville Sarjoo.

Singh might have come to the Presidency of the GCB with a certain amount of idealism. This I concede. But after more than ten years in office, his administration is showing all of the signs of having been there too long. As it is, he presides over a Board that is fettered by cronyism; incompetence; suspect financial practices; and, most of all, disdain for constructive criticism. This point should be developed here. Those who criticized the Board or opposed it during the last elections have come in for hard knocks. The wife of one of the leading members of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) has been subject to threatening phone calls. The treasurer of the East Bank Cricket Board (ECB) has had his house searched. This is not all. The Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) removed Sean Devers, who is on the panel of commentators for CANA, from the local panel because he interviewed Basil Butcher during the recent Guyana v Trinidad match at Albion.

It appears that I did my respected friend, Basil Butcher, a disservice when I wrote about his suitability for the post of the presidency of the GCB and left out some important details. I return to this matter because L. Jordan has questioned what Mr. Butcher has done for Linden. I can testify that in the '60s and the '70s there was a lot of cricket in Linden and Butcher deserves some praise for bringing players to the national colours; Clayton Lambert, Lambert Blackman, Vibert Johassen, Keith Cameron and Vincent Adams, to name a few. Recently, Butcher served as a member of the Cricket Development Committee of the GCB and only left in order to develop school cricket in Linden. L. Jordan has his facts wrong. With regard to Butcher?s administrative ability, we tend to forget that he has been a competent member of the GCB and has served as the Chairman of Selectors of the WICB. To any reasonable mind, this is more than sufficient qualification for heading the local Board. Incidentally, if L. Jordan knows anything about coaching certificates, he would know that it includes testing one?s ability in administrative matters. Butcher has coaching certificates from both England and Australia. It is a sign of the anti-Butcher hysteria that has engulfed the GCB that Butcher could be questioned about what he has done for Linden while at the same time being damned for not helping Berbice. I have known Butcher for a long time; I did not know he was supposed to be Superman!

Skeete and L. Jordan may not be aware of it but their letters have declared that the hierarchy of the GCB is no longer secure in its power and it has to account to the Guyanese people for its performance. Where there was disdainful silence, there is now frenzied activity to justify and to praise. Maybe it has all been to the good of cricket in Guyana.