Dear Editor,
Mr Barton of the East Coast Cricket Board, in a recent retort to my suggestion that cricket clubs on the East Coast be told the truth, claimed that the East Coast Cricket Board and the East Coast Demerara Cricket Association are two names belonging to the same board and that the names are being used “interchangeably.”
Just to be sure, I researched some of the statements made by Mr Barton. I saw legal documents in which the present East Coast Cricket Board, inter alia, denied knowledge of any other board ‒ whether by name or form. I also saw documents where a senior functionary of the current East Coast Cricket Board denied knowledge of any other board but signed a disciplinary letter under the caption of a board other than the East Coast Cricket Board, and certainly not under the name of the East Coast Demerara Cricket Association.
It wouldn’t be surprising to hear soon that the East Coast Cricket Board is also known by a third name.
Are some people promoting cricket on the East Coast or just using clubs and players for some other agenda? As Mr Barton indicated, some matters are before the High Court. I would not be as bold as he was to quote excerpts from the documents I saw. Suffice it to say that my take on the documents differs vastly from his.
Cricket is too important a sport and a vehicle for national cohesion to be used as a proverbial football by some people. Perhaps the courts may wish to adjudicate early on the East Coast Cricket Board matters so that cricketers in this talent-rich area can have a fair deal as it relates to selection on the Demerara and national sides. Perhaps, also, cricket clubs in the area need to challenge the legitimacy of the East Coast Cricket Board in its present composition.
Editor, as an aside, I witnessed a situation at the Enmore Community Centre Ground where there is a full-time groundsman paid by the estate but the place is in a mess. Is no one supervising this guy? I saw youngsters ‘knocking up’ and having to search for balls in more than two feet of high grass outside the boundary boards.
Talk about a waste of manpower and money.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Selman
