Dear Editor,
I totally agree with Neaz Subhan that there is need for a Cricket Academy in Guyana, and with the follow-up by John Mair, who lived for a number of years in Georgetown.
Guyana has produced 59 international cricketers starting with Maurice Fernandes in 1928 when Test cricket was introduced.
Our country boasts of producing several world class players including Shivnarine Chanderpaul who played the most Test matches, 164, and scored the most runs, 8778 in one-day internationals. Clive Lloyd, who was the most successful captain, led the West Indies on 74 occasions. Six other Guyanese served as Windies captain. Lance Gibbs was one time the leading wicket taker in Test matches and Rohan Kanhai, a former captain and coach, was also rated as a world class player.
Unfortunately the calibre of our current players is not as it was yesteryear when we dominated international cricket. There are several reasons for this, including poor administration due to a power struggle within the Guyana Cricket Board. The newly introduced Cricket Administration Act is not being adhered to and it seems as if the Ministry responsible for sport is not paying much attention to cricket. This is very unfortunate since Guyanese seem to be more interested in cricket than nationals of the Caribbean islands, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and the Windward and Leeward Islands.
If the West Indies is to bounce back to be one of the leading cricketing nations of the world much more attention will have to be paid to the pitches, because they are far too slow and it is a disadvantage to both batsmen and bowlers. The governments in the region have to be more involved in the game since cricket is part of the Caribbean culture. In fact some time ago I had advocated that cricket should be on the school curriculum. Our youths should know more about their stars and the game as a whole, hence the reason why the Academy is needed as well as a Hall of Fame for cricketers. The Berbice Cricket Board where I served as Secretary in the 1960s took the lead, and now has a Hall of Fame for outstanding cricketers and administrators.
The tiny island of Nevis which produced Test cricketers Elquemedo Willett, Keith Arthurton, Carl Tuckett, Runako Morton and Kieran Powell boasts of a Hall of Fame.
The Guyana Cricket Board, its affiliates and the Department of Sport should seek the assistance of former Test cricketers, and administrators and should take the initiative and seek financial assistance from large business houses and set up the Academy. Mortimer George, former Secretary of the Berbice Board who wrote two books on the history of Berbice cricket, is willing to assist, and I, as a cricket writer who covered international cricket in the region, would be only too pleased to throw in my two bits. Hand-in-Hand and Professor Clem Seecharran, are producing a three-volume history of British Guiana/Guyana cricket. The first volume was launched recently in Georgetown.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
