“I do not believe people holding themselves out as the GCB were duly elected” – Harper

By Delvon McEwan

President of Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Roger Harper, says he does not believe that the people holding themselves out as the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) were duly elected.
Like the GCA, the GCB recently held their Annual General Meeting (AGM), but was prevented from holding an election due to challenges within the Cricket Administration Act.
However, questioned about the GCB AGM, Harper said, “I do not believe that the people holding themselves out as the GCB were duly elected”. According to Harper, that has been the crocks of the matter.

“I think somewhere along the line, people believe that the whole situation, with the last government (PPP/C) getting involve was something political, but they are forgetting that it started with the GCB election and the Berbice Cricket Board injuncting the people who called themselves the GCB,” Harper detailed.
However, with the Cricket Act in place, the situation was expected to be resolved some time ago which to date is not the case because the Act is yet to be implemented.
According to the former West Indies cricketer, that Act came about to regularise cricket in Georgetown, especially from the administration position, so there would not be any issues with elections or the cause for any confusions.

Dr Winston McGowan is the Cricket Ombudsman according to the Bill. His appointment came in the wake of the crisis between current GCB executives and stakeholders of cricket, who wrote to Parliament seeking a resolution to the problem, allowing the CAB to be introduced into law.
In a previous interview with the media, McGowan said his only duty is to organise and conduct the poll. However, he is yet to conduct a poll since he was appointed.
Harper even labelled the AGM of the GCB is a farce, therefore it is quite obvious that there would be no close ties between the GCA and the GCB, since the executives of the GCA do not recognise the officials of the GCB as duly elected to hold positions.
As a result there is urgent need for the Ombudsman to get active to resolve this situation through immediate elections. (Guyana Times)