PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has blasted the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over its handling of the Guyana cricket fiasco.
President and chief executive Dinanath Ramnarine said on Monday that the regional body’s response to the affair was characteristic of how it had dealt with troublesome issues in the past.
Confusion has reigned in the Guyana cricket fraternity ever since a ruling by the High Court, which declared the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) as a legal non-entity, paved the way for government to assume control of cricket administration through an Interim Management Committee (IMC).
“WIPA supports the rule of law and will not oppose the ruling of the courts.
“WIPA believes that the WICB has again demonstrated its lack of regard for the rights of others as well as its contempt for the other stakeholders of West Indies cricket,” Ramnarine said.
“It is the same contempt they show so openly, and so disrespectfully, to the Patterson Committee On Governance even though that committee was set up by the board.
He continued: “The question is why in this day and age where cricket is a serious business does the WICB have territorial board shareholders who are unincorporated and hence legal non-entities?
“When a player accepts to play with a territorial board that is unincorporated and if there is a breach of any duties and responsibilities, how does that player pursue a remedy?
“To be clear, this is not the case for Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica who all have been incorporated under acts of parliament or relevant legislation.”
The WICB has thrown its backing behind the GCB during the current impasse, reiterating Sunday that it recognised the body as the “sole authorized governing body for cricket in Guyana”.
In a release, the board said it supported the IMC as an “advisory body”, noting that it would not “recognize or approve any entity other than the GCB” to govern cricket affairs in Guyana.
The WICB has pulled Guyana’s first four matches of the Regional Four-Day Championship from the government-owned National Stadium at Providence.
The board said it would also make an announcement shortly on the venue for the third Test between West Indies and Australia. (CMC)
