Justice Sandra Kurtzious on Wednesday granted an injunction barring the entire Executive of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) from operating.
The ruling came in the wake of the passage of the controversial cricket administration bill earlier this month which seeks to bring order to the sport which has been riven by debilitating controversies in recent years.
The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) had challenged the validity of the elections of the GCB held in January 2013 which was observed by the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Imran Khan, Paul Slowe and Conde Riley.
On consideration in Chambers of the plaintiffs’ case and after hearing counsel from both sides, Justice Kurtzious also barred all of the defendants from representing Guyana at the West Indies Cricket Board.
The order took effect from yesterday when it was entered by lawyers Rex H. Mc Kay S.C., Fitz L. R. Peters and Sandil S. Kissoon.
GCB President Durbahadur, executives Fizul Bacchus, Anand Sanasie, Virendra Chintamanie, Anand Kalladeen, Rajesh Singh, Rajendra Singh, Colin Europe, Andy Ramnarine, Lalta Digamber, Ramdeo Kumar, Rayon Griffith, Nazimul Drepaul, Savitri Persaud and Alfred Mentore were named as the defendants.
The plaintiffs are BCB members Keith Foster, Anil Beharry, Shabeer Baksh, Hubern Evans, Julian Cambridge, Angela Haniff, Raymond Haniff, and Romash Munna.
It was the latest twist in a long-running feud between the GCB and the BCB which is mirrored by a standoff between the Guyana Government on one hand and the GCB and the WICB on the other.
The judge’s order and the passage of the cricket bill could once again plunge the sport in controversy as the WICB might move to withdraw international cricket from Guyana as it had done two years ago when the government had set up an Interim Management Committee to run the game headed by renowned Guyanese and former West Indian Skipper Clive Lloyd.
The government’s effort to take over cricket through this initiative failed as the WICB withdrew international cricket from Guyana leaving fans starved of top-level cricket.
The last word from the WICB prior to the passage of the cricket bill was that it was not happy with several provisions pertaining to the intended treatment of the GCB.
The GCB and other local cricket bodies have had various accusations and counter-accusations levelled at them in recent years. There has also been infighting in clubs.
