Former West Indies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan has thrown his support behind recently elected Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster but has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with the Guyana Cricket Board as long as Anand Sanasie remains part of the administration.
Foster defeated Dhierandranauth Somwaru in the BCB’s highly-contentious February 18th election which was held under the supervision of a High Court Marshal on the instruction of Judge Navindra Singh.
“It means a great deal,” Sarwan relayed to Stabroek Sport, yesterday.
“Obviously we know that we had a lot of issues concerning the Berbice Cricket Board, so the fact that it has been resolved to the point where there was a fair election is a step in the right direction.
“At the end of the day, once people put who they need to put there to ensure that cricket is run properly and fairly, it is the most important thing and now we have a recognised board in Berbice,” the former WI player told Stabroek Sport.
Sarwan spoke highly of the newly elected BCB President but condemned the current Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (CGB), Anand Sanasie for the general operations of the GCB.
The former West Indies Skipper has always been vocal in his criticisms of Sanasie.
“I’m going to support anyone who has cricket at heart and have the best interest in supporting young people and ensuring that they have right development to represent their country or club.
“The fact of the matter is, unless some reporters want to play blind of dumb, everyone is aware of what Sanasie has done. But I think people are just too scared to address the problem.
“I’m not involved in politics and allow politics to control my position, but I think Mr Foster, who I have been dealing with since my teenage years, is someone I have a lot of confidence in.”
While he expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of BCB elections, Sarwan is, however, even more concerned about the administration of the sport at the GCB level.
In this regard, he issued a call for Demerara, who faced a similar predicament as Berbice, to mirror what the Berbice authorities did to get the administration up and running again.
“Just follow Berbice…take action. It’s been going on for too long. At the end of the day whoever wins, wins but it has to be in the right way, just like in Berbice and I think that’s the only way cricket can be resolved in Guyana.
“Nobody won’t have to be bribing clubs to vote for them or threaten people nor don’t invest in their clubs.”
The 37-year-old, who last played for the West Indies in 2013, and currently resides in Miami, also indicated that his ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of cricket in Guyana.
He nonetheless wants to do so under a different administration.
“Ultimately my goal is to return and help in whatever way I can, but once Sanasie administration is running cricket, I don’t want anything to do with.”
