President of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Bishwa Panday yesterday stated that his association has full confidence in former national fast bowler Roderick Lovell as their representative on the selection panel of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB).
“The GCA wishes to state very clearly that it has absolute confidence in Mr. Roderick Lovell. His knowledge of the game is second to none having represented the country at different levels and he always executes his duties in a professional manner.”
Speaking at a press conference held at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) pavilion, in collaboration with the eight first division clubs under his stewardship, Panday stated that contrary to reports carried earlier in another section of the media, Lovell did not walk out of the DCB selection panel meeting, but asked to be excused.
“Contrary to what was published in another section of the media, where it was stated that Mr. Lovell who is the GCA representative on the DCB selection panel walked out of the selection meeting that was held to select the Demerara 20/20 team, such was not true as Mr. Lovell asked to be excused.”
Panday further stated: ”Our efforts at the GCA has always been towards the development of cricket and if a selection policy or policies is fraudulent or compromised, such efforts will go in vain. We must have clear lines of demarcation and we at the GCA level have resolved to one solution, persons must do what they have been selected to do.”
According to a press statement issued and read by Panday, the GCA has resolved early that the selection of their Under-19 team will be done by a committee headed by its vice president Alfred Mentore, himself a former national under-19 cricketer.
Stating that the GCA was not pleased with the selection policy used by the DCB selectors to select the team to represent Demerara, Panday also made it known that the GCA would not be pulling their players out of tomorrow’s final against Berbice.
“We are not a controversial or antagonistic unit, but one who operates in a professional manner who thinks that cricket has to be played on the field and not in the boardroom and our record is available to be challenged by anyone. It is with this in mind, that our players will be participating in Friday’s final if selected.”
“We are not going to disrupt the match in any way possible. The GCA is a responsible body and we are cognizant of our role in the development of cricket in Guyana. We also value very highly the contribution of the sponsors and will do nothing to jeopardize the mileage and publicity of same.”
Panday said further that Georgetown cricket had made an outstanding contribution to not only Guyana but West Indies cricket and their clubs have had an outstanding season under their stewardship. “It is our view that Guyana’s cricket is strong when Georgetown cricket is strong and we intend to keep it that way,” Panday added.
He also said that the GCA has petitioned the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) seeking permission to participate as a unit at the higher level of cricket in Guyana, namely the Inter-county tournaments.
“We believe that we can hold our own participating as a team at the highest level here in Guyana. And even though we may not win, we are capable of giving a good account of ourselves and I must state clearly that the decision to participate in inter-county competitions has the full backing of our first division clubs.”
In closing, Panday stated that the GCA strongly feels that former cricketers who are locally based should be encouraged and their services utilized as far as practicable towards the development of cricket.
