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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday May 17, 2016
Challenge to the Cricket Act by Anand Sanasie is a deliberate plot to ostracise Linden and avoid elections of the GCB “I WISH to congratulate our cricketers for performing with distinction against all odds, including an illegal, incompetent and discriminating regime that has hijacked our cricket for over seven years during which time there has been no elections. Although our youngsters have done us proud, Guyanese have been finding it difficult to gain selection to the WI Test, One-Day and T20 teams. Are we winning the battle but losing the war? This illegal regime has been wreaking havoc on our cricket establishment for over seven years. I am amazed that successive Governments of Guyana, the cricket fans and even sponsors could tolerate this untenable situation for so long. It is most disheartening when reputable firms sponsor youth cricket tournaments knowing full well that our youngsters are being weaned within an environment of illegality, unaccountability, ethnic discrimination and improper cricket development programmes. Indeed our cricketers must play as much cricket as possible. However, their cricket development must coincide with their personal development so that even if they do not become successful cricketers they would be well-rounded and decent citizens. We cannot afford to develop our youngsters under a regime where leaders were charged with treason, perjury etc and they engage in illegalities and ethnic discrimination, making the youngsters feel that it is the norm and therefore acceptable. The continuing illegality of the GCB could be properly addressed immediately once the Attorney General, the Minister of Education & Sport and the current Government as a whole demonstrate the will or desire to restore our cricket to order by defending
the challenge to the Cricket Act in Court. This matter is outstanding since December 2014 and as a result free and fair elections cannot be held. It is time for Guyana to have order, decency and accountability restored to our beloved game of cricket. The fact remains that Anil Beharry, Keith & Hilbert Foster, Angela Haniff the executive body of Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), Roger Harper of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) and Bissoondyal Singh of the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) are the ones to be complimented. Their steadfastness and their excellent cricket development programmes continue to produce cricketers at all levels for our country and have made us proud. They do not receive any funds from the GCB although that Board receives US$640 000 per year to develop our cricket. Essequibo, West Demerara and East Bank Demerara selected the present so-called GCB officials but have precious little cricket being played in their areas and consequently have not produced any cricketers for Guyana over the past seven years. The reality is that Anand Sanasie is on the executive of the West Demerara Cricket Association for fourteen years and that Association failed to produce a single cricketer for the Senior National team. So what were the criteria used to award Sanasie with Administrator-of-the-Year? Is it for the following? a) Not holding legal elections for six (6) years b) Not circulating the GCB financial statement as must be done by law c) Distributing cricket gear on the East Coast of Demerara and excluding every African clubs d) Withholding subventions from the Berbice Cricket
Board, East Coast Cricket Board and the Georgetown Cricket Association for the past six (6) years. e) Registering a privately-owned company and transferring all the GCB assets including all the bank accounts? The Upper Demerara Cricket Association (Linden) has been totally ostracised by the present illegal GCB with their youngsters, male and female, unable to participate in any Cricket Board tournaments because of the deliberate discriminatory action by the GCB. Their main contention in the challenge to the Guyana Cricket Administration Act is that they do not want the inclusion of the Upper Demerara Cricket Association in the National cricket administration structure. It is therefore ironic that this callous attempt to ostracise in excess of forty thousand (40 000) Afro-Guyanese and Amerindians from Linden by Anand Sanasie and his four (4) Indo-Guyanese buddies namely Fizul Bacchus, Lalta Digamber, Ronald Rohan Sarjoo and Johnny Azeez is apparently not bothersome to the APNU/AFC administration although they received three (3) seats in the National Assembly from that very area. In this regard, the incumbent National Sports Commission must explain to the nation the rationale for the recent awards to the GCB and its Secretary Anand Sanasie. Having mentioned the above and especially as
it is generally accepted that the current GCB is illegal, I wish to remind the cricketing public of the following: 1. Minister of Education and Sport Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister Joseph Harmon, Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, Attorney General Basil Williams and Director of Sport Christopher Jones sat on the Parliamentary Special Select Committee and after twenty-two meetings approved the Cricket Administration Bill unanimously. 2. It was Education & Sport Minister Dr. Roopnaraine’s articulate presentation which piloted the Cricket Administration Bill through its successful passage in Parliament. 3. The Director of Sport, Mr Christopher Jones, recently and publicly chastised the administration of the GCB and had previously stated that there should be free and fair elections of the GCB. 4. There is an outstanding challenge to the Cricket Administration Act where both the Attorney General and the Minister of Education & Sport are the defendants. These Honourable Ministers have been somewhat tardy in their efforts to defend the frivolous challenge. Maybe the attendance of high-ranking coalition government officials at Secretary of GCB Anand Sanasie’s recent birthday party may suggest the reasons for the long delay in having free and fair elections under the Act.” Yours in Sports W. G. BOSTON
Leicester celebrate title triumph with victory parade (REUTERS) - Leicester City’s players celebrated their Premier League title success with a victory parade on an open-top bus through the streets of the Midlands county town in front of about 250 000 ecstatic fans yesterday. Supporters had begun lining the streets from midday to see their heroes and Italian manager Claudio Ranieri display the gleaming trophy that had seemed an unlikely prize at the start of the season when they were 5000-1 outsiders. The players waved and smiled as they passed the thousands thronging the streets on their way from Jubilee Square in the city centre to a special stage erected in Victoria Park where they lapped up the adulation of the adoring Foxes faithful. The players were individually introduced to the crowd who cheered every name and the players re-enacted being presented with the trophy -- which they had received officially after their final home game against Everton at the King Power Stadium. “I enjoyed today in front of all our fans. I want to say thank you to everybody because in all the season they pushed behind
us and they believed in us,” said Ranieri, who like Leicester, picked up his first top-flight league title. Captain Wes Morgan said: “What we’ve achieved this season has been fantastic and the boys and the staff ... and the fans, everyone has contributed to it and it has been a fantastic season and you can’t take that away from us.” Leicester finished 10 points ahead of Arsenal, with Tottenham Hotspur, the only team left chasing the Foxes in the final weeks of the season, finishing a further point back. Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez added: “I’m very happy to be here with these fans and it’s amazing, unbelievable. What we’ve done this season ... we should be proud of ourselves. It’s magnificent.” Highlights of the club’s amazing season, including goals from striker Jamie Vardy, the Football Writers’ Player-of-the-Year, and PFA Player-of-the-Year Mahrez, plus memorable quotes from Ranieri were replayed on big screens to cheers. Rock band Kasabian, formed in Leicester in 1997 and also fans of the club, performed after the players left the stage.
This is how we learn...
From backpage Sunday night.
EXPOSURE NEEDED FOR THE YOUTH Coach Shabazz also explained his starting line-up saying, “We used a lot of players that we look to the future with.” “Either we want a truth or we want a lie. We must give exposure to some of the
younger ones. Some of them came up big tonight,” added the Trinidadian as he cited Trayon Bobb and Devon Millington. This he noted was the reason that several seasoned players were omitted from the match, saying, “The people who were to benefit from this game played tonight (Sunday) and I think they will certainly benefit from it.”
ICC rejects Perera compensation claims SRI Lanka Cricket and Kusal Perera have not applied for compensation, following his recent suspension, says the ICC. The ICC has denied reports it has been approached by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for compensation in relation to Kusal Perera’s recent suspension. Perera was suspended by
world cricket’s governing body last December after a WADA-accredited laboratory in Qatar reported he had tested positive for 19-Norandrostenedione, a prohibited anabolic steroid. The same substance was confirmed to be present in B samples provided by the player. However, after lawyers questioned the results,
an independent review was commissioned. That review led to the laboratory withdrawing its original finding, stating there was no evidence the player had ever used p e r f o r m a n c e- e n h a n c i n g drugs. As a result, Perera’s ban was lifted and some reports had suggested the SLC would
look for recompense given the batsman missed the World Twenty20. However, the governing body has rejected those claims, tweeting: “ICC confirms it has not received any request for compensation from @OfficialSLC or Mr Perera and it has not agreed to any reimbursement.