Dear Editor,
The recent presentation by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to Bayrock Cricket Club highlights the further confusion in Demerara cricket where illegal control is being maintained of both the Demerara Cricket Board and the GCB.
Cricket in Upper Demerara is administered by the duly constituted Upper Demerara Cricket Association (UDCA) which was founded in 2000 and which remains the sole legitimate authority for cricket in Upper Demerara.
It seems therefore that mischief is afoot when Mr Sanasie can turn up in Linden to make a presentation of cash and cricket bats to Bayrock without acknowledging the UDCA as the parent body in that region. This is the same Mr Sanasie who for years rigorously opposed the UDCA’s claim for membership of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) and even refused to recognize the existence of the UDCA.
As a staunch Lindener and a long-standing cricket fan, I am particularly disturbed that Regional Chairman Sharma Soloman and President of the Bayrock Cricket Club Lancelot Easton, accepted the cheque and bats on behalf of a previously unheard of Upper Demerara Cricket Committee. I believe that both Messrs Soloman and Easton are allowing themselves to be used by those who seem bent on winning favours in Linden now that the Cricket Administration Bill has passed and been signed by President Donald Ramotar paving the way for UDCA to officially become the fifth constituent member of the DCB. Mr Easton’s position is perplexing, especially as he is a past president of the UDCA and his club, Bayrock, was a founding member of the UDCA in 2000. In a remarkable turn-about, for reasons best known to him, Mr Easton has supported Messrs Sanasie and Rohan Sarjoo’s position that the entire Upper Demerara Region 10 of forty-five thousand persons must fall under the direct control of the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association, headed by Mr Sarjoo. It is important to note that Mr Sarjoo was a part of the presentation to Bayrock.
It is alarming that Mr Soloman is dealing with and supporting the GCB group having regard to the fact that Mr Soloman’s party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supported and voted in favour of the Cricket Administration Bill and, by extension, the inclusion of Upper Demerara as a legal and constituent member of the DCB. And, ipso facto, the UDCA for the first time ever will belong to the structure of Guyana cricket thereby eventually righting a long-imposed injustice to the Region. The good people of Linden may want to question why their Chairman, Sharma Soloman, would want to support in any way someone who campaigned unrelentingly for the exclusion of Region 10 from Guyana cricket.
Any funds or cricket equipment allocated for cricket in Upper Demerara must be channelled through the legitimate body, the UDCA. It is evident that Mr Soloman and the good office he represents have been unwittingly used to further another self-serving agenda.
It is important to note that as WICB monies are doled out only to certain entities, the Berbice Cricket Board, the East Coast Cricket Board and the Georgetown Cricket Association have, for over four years, not received any monies or one cricket bat from the GCB while players from these areas consistently make up the national teams at all levels. The Berbice Cricket Board is justifiably referred to as the best-run and most productive cricket board in Guyana and the Georgetown Cricket Association as the best-run association.
Mr Soloman as an APNU member and the Chairman of Region 10, may want to re-examine his involvement in that presentation charade and clear his name, as I hold the view that he was misled on cricket issues as they relate to Upper Demerara. Failing that, he may be accused of acting against the best interests of the good people of Upper Demerara who have fought the Sanasie and Rohan Sarjoo group to end the isolation of Linden and Upper Demerara cricket.
What is wrong with our cricket over the past four years is the poor crop of administrators who continue to use every conceivable means to stay in control of Guyana cricket. Messrs Soloman and Easton must set the example to ensure that the people of Upper Demerara, including and especially the cricket officials, are mindful that they do not fall prey to divide and rule.
Yours faithfully,
Henry Farnum
Cricket Umpire
