Dear Editor,
Recently, the Berbice Cricket Board held its Annual General Meeting and elected new office bearers to run cricket in Berbice. The slate of Dr. Cecil Beharry won a close fight against a slate headed by Albert Smith with the vote going 18/14 for all the positions. We the cricket fans were also informed that Mr. Hilbert Foster did not seek re-election because of health reasons. Let me take this opportunity to wish him speedy recovery and to continue to show an interest in Berbice cricket.
Editor, the reason for this missive is to highlight a few concerns that cricket fans are not too happy about with regards to Berbice cricket. The newly elected President of the Berbice Cricket Board was the Treasurer of the Foster-run board for the past couple of years and a few weeks ago the Guyana Cricket Board issued a press release stating that after conducting a value for money forensic audit, it was discovered that there were glaring cases of discrepancies in the financial report of 2020 that the BCB submitted to the GCB. The GCB also ordered the BCB to submit their financial reports for the years 2021 and 2022 before the end of this year. I am only hoping that the BCB has already done so and we await the findings of those two years’ audit reports. What is disconcerting though is that this new board has started their term with clouds hanging over their heads and I do hope that Dr. Cecil Beharry and his team clear the air on this issue and reassure cricket fans that all is well with Berbice cricket.
The other issue I will like to highlight is the state of cricket competitions in Berbice for the year 2023. For a board that prides itself by boasting that it is the best run board in Guyana and the West Indies, I will like to inform cricket fans about the state of competitions now that the year has ended.1) Telenec 50 overs for the year 2022 is yet to be completed. This is a first division competition.2) Berbice Premier T20 and Ivan Madray T20 first division competitions for the year 2023, yet to be completed.3) Dave West Indian 40 overs second division 2023 and Kris Jagdeo Construction 2023, yet to be completed.4) Bior Bits Pieces under23, 2023 yet to be completed. 5) Ricky and Sons under 11, 2023, yet to be completed. Let me get this clear, when I said yet to be completed, I mean the competitions started and abruptly stopped at various times during the year. The only two competitions that were completed are Ali’s Bakery under 17 and Romario Shepherd under 13. The Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi under 15 is being played presently. I know when this is published the response will be inclement weather, but I want to tell the BCB, please don’t insult the intelligence of the fans, because we all know we have been experiencing El Nino conditions for the longest while now with hardly any rain.
I do hope this new board addresses the issues raised here and does a better job this year, so that we can lift the standard of the administration of cricket in Berbice and improve our cricket generally.
Yours faithfully,
Imtiaz Baccus
