Lloyd was extremely disappointed with the WICB’s attitude towards the GCB elections
Former Guyana and West Indies batsmen Clive Lloyd and Roger Harper have deemed the recent Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) elections, which were held on January 27, “illegal” and lashed out at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for standing idly by and failing to take any responsibility.
On January 27, the GCB adopted a new constitution and their former assistant secretary Drubahadur was named as the new president.
Having protested the move strongly, both Lloyd and Harper stated that the GCB had violated the orders that were passed by two separate Guyana judges, whereby they have effectively banned any elections from taking place in the future.
Both players also noted that the elections could not have been legitimate since not all members of the GCB had voted, thus meaning that there was no “quorum”.
“There is an injunction in place so they [GCB] cannot operate,” Lloyd told ESPNcricinfo. “The judges made a ruling and you cannot flout the laws of the country.
“To me any time you have elections, everybody should take part. [But] Berbice wasn’t there, a great part of Demerara wasn’t there, so the elections could not be legal as such.”
The GCB is made up of three counties, Demerara Cricket Board (DCB), Berbice and Essequibo Cricket Board.
Lloyd noted that there should be a level-playing field when elections are being held, but this was clearly missing during the GCB’s elections.
“What happened is the true reflection of the people who are trying to grab power in Guyana cricket,” Georgetown Cricket Association president Harper said. “It was illegal.
Georgetown Cricket Association is just one of the four constituents of the DCB, with East Bank Demerara Cricket Association, West Demerara Cricket Association and East Coast Cricket Board being the other three.
In 2011, the West Demerara Cricket Association and East Bank Demerara Cricket Association filed a complaint against the Georgetown Cricket Association and East Coast Cricket Board, stating that the East Coast Cricket Board should no longer be a part of the DCB.
However, Justice Bovel-Drakes stated that the case should be taken to the normal courts and temporarily ordered that all four constituents should not be a part of the DCB.
After the GCB set up a special committee for the elections, the Georgetown-East Coast faction went to the courts to protest the move.
“The same guys who were setting up the committee and calling for elections were involved in the earlier case directly,” Harper said.
Judge Diane Insanally passed an injunction, which stated that East Bank-West Demerara faction could not act as the sole representatives of the DCB during the GCB elections.
“And therefore GCB elections should not have a quorum because only Essequibo attended with Berbice refusing to come,” Harper added.
Harper also slammed the WICB for doing nothing about the elections.
“Knowing the problems in Guyana it was the responsibility of the WICB, as a parent body, to ensure that the people attending the elections as delegates were entitled to be there,” Harper said. “It was the WICB’s responsibility to make sure the elections were free and fair and above board.”
In an effort to resolve the situation in 2011, the GCB created an interim management committee (IMC), where Lloyd was appointed as chairman.
Lloyd’s job was to draw up a new constitution that would help settle all the disputes plaguing Guyana cricket.
However, the WICB rejected the IMC, stating that it was following the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) advice on not supporting any government interference.
Lloyd noted that he was disappointed by the WICB’s stance on the matter.
“The WICB cannot condone such a situation,” Lloyd said. “You are in charge of cricket and you should see that such a thing did not happen.
“The point is everybody must take part if you want a true cricket board. We want accountability.”
Last year, Lloyd also stepped down as the non-member director of the WICB, revealing that his role with the board was clashing with his loyalty towards Guyana.
Lloyd also mentioned that he had already drawn up a constitution, along with a development plan, but the only thing missing is a forensic audit.
This report is set to be carefully studied by a government-appointed Select Committee, the members of which will be decided upon soon, according to Lloyd.
“Once the committee has covered all the ground, it will be forwarded to the parliament and once it is passed as a law, we will have fresh elections where everybody should take part,” Lloyd said. “That to me is free and fair.”