By Delvon Mc Ewan
Hilbert Foster, CEO of Guyana’s leading sports club, Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) says Berbice cricket is in disarray due to the lust for power at the county and national level thus he is calling on those in the highest office of this land to intervene so that the sport could see brighter days.
At the time of his remarks he was addressing over 500 persons who were present at the annual award ceremony of the RHTY&SC, including Acting President of the Republic of Guyana Hon. Moses Nagamootoo, Director of Sports, Christopher Jones and many other bearers of high offices and prominent Guyanese.
“Only five years ago under the leadership of the RHTY&SC President (Keith Foster), Berbice cricket was the envy of the Caribbean with close to 15 tournaments per year and over 200 off the field programmes every single year.”
According to Hilbert, due to the performance of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) a former president of Guyana described the BCB as a role model organization which should be followed by everyone.
However, in contrast to its glory days when the county’s cricket was operated structural it is presently in disarray and dysfunctional because of court proceedings among many other obstruction. “Today Berbice cricket is in disarray due to the love for power at the county and national level,” the CEO lamented.
Hilbert placed the blame on people who lack vision and are in high offices despite not being elected to govern the nation’s cricket. “People who have no vision, no capacity to manage are in charge despite not elected to do so.”
Hilbert said the country should take the onus to ensure Berbice and Guyana’s cricket is preserved for the future. “We as a country owe it to ourselves to make sure that Berbice cricket and Guyana’s cricket is preserved for our next generation. We cannot afford to lose the legacies of (John) Trim, (Rohan) Kanhai, (Basil) Butcher, (Ivan) Madray, (Roy) Fredericks, (Joe) Solomon, (Alvin) Kallicharran and (Mahendra) Nagamootoo, to be destroyed,” Hilbert expressed.
He agrees that Guyana has been successful in first class cricket, winning three titles but stated it was due to efforts of officials at several clubs, namely RHTY&SC, Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), Albion, Everest Cricket Club, Tucber Park and Young Warriors, who work diligently daily to make a difference.
He warned that if these clubs are removed then Berbice and Guyana’s cricket will die instantly.
According to Hilbert absolutely no cricket is played for club in Berbice, no coaching is done on and off the cricket field, unqualified coaches are selected to coach inter-county teams, five clubs move an illegal motion to remove a hardworking, dedicated and honoured senior administrator while unqualified empires are used in practice and inter-zone matches.
He further stated that players are targeted because of their clubs, coaches are told to leave certain clubs if they want significant coaching position at the county level while players are given ‘home made drinks’ and food with one small piece of chicken to survive for an entire day.
“Our players practice every day with no cricket in sight and clubs depend on the RHTY&SC to organize tournaments. Berbice and Guyana’s cricket cannot go on like this,” said a very concerned CEO.
Hence he pleaded with the Hon. Nagamootoo and the government of Guyana to intervene in the situation before it is too late.
He went on state that the parliament of Guyana passed a cricket bill and it is a law of Guyana and unless it is overturn all parties should respect it.
The time to act is now! The time to act is now! Foster exclaimed with heavy emotion echoing with every word.
He then went on to call on Hon. Nagamootoo to save cricket in this land: “Mr. Prime Minister from the bottom of my heart, as a fellow Berbician and as a proud uncle of one of our former Test cricketers, please assist us to save Berbice and Guyana’s cricket. Let it be your legacy and I’m sure that every Berbician, Mr. Acting President and Prime Minister, shall be proud of you.”
Foster’s philippic was not limited to the poor state of local cricket but was extended to question the scope of regional cricket.
“From the days of (George) Headley, (Garfield) Sobers, (Rohan) Kanhai, (Clive) Lloyd to the modern greats of (Brian) Lara and (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, it has been the one factor that has kept us together. It has nade us proud to be West Indians and to let the world know that we are the best. Sadly, however, we have fallen from grace and today we are the laughing stock of the world and a West Indies victory is as rare as a diamond. Most people including me, who was once passionate about the game are now totally unaware when matches are played, who are the players and what are the results,” detailed the cricket enthusiast.
If you are unaware of the situation in Guyana, Foster has touched on every point. He is well regarded in Guyana and is at the helm of the club that won the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) club of the year award for 2016. He recently was honoured by The Xercise, a rapidly emerging sport body made up of young professionals, for his contribution in cricket.
In recent years the GCB has been atop of discussion almost everywhere locally for the way the board functions.
Pundits and stakeholders have speculated the resignation of the President Dru Bahadur was due to infighting among executive members, however, he said it was mainly because of business commitments.
The chaos in Guyana’s cricket is vivid, it cannot be ignored and the President of Cricket West Indies Dave Cameron should intervene to solve this issue immediately. They should meet with stakeholders of cricket here and hear their views. The GCB have been failing and will continue to do so because they are not equipped to do otherwise.
