Guyana Gov't condemns WICB disrespect of Jamaican Prime Minister

The Guyana Government has condemned the West Indies Cricket Board for the manner in which it responded to Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and called on it to apologise to her.

The Guyana Government statement follows:

The Government of Guyana firmly condemns the undignified response by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to the views expressed by the Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica with respect to the continued exclusion of Chris Gayle from the West Indies Cricket Team and the omission of Jamaica as one of the host venues for the Australian tour.

This action further demonstrates the WICB’s complete disrespect for the States of the Region and indeed the Board’s total disregard for the concerns expressed by Caribbean nationals over the escalating crisis of the administration of the Region’s cricket.

The Government of Guyana calls upon the WICB to make a public apology to the Honourable Portia Simpson Miller and the people of Jamaica.

The Government of Guyana wishes to recall the scant disregard and contempt which the WICB displayed to the Government, the Judiciary and the people of Guyana when, earlier this year, they threatened to prevent the Guyana Cricket Team from participating in the regional cricket tournament and removed an international cricket match from being played in Guyana, simply because of the steps taken to give effect to a judgment emanating from our High Court which recommended that we restructure cricket administration in Guyana in order to put same on surer legal footing.

Indeed, it has been recently discovered that two directors of the WICB, who were part of the impugned structure which administered cricket in Guyana, transferred all assets, including bank accounts, motor vehicles, a media facility, a hostels for cricketers and practice facilities for cricketers, which previously were under the ownership and control of the Guyana Cricket Board, over to a private company which is owned and controlled by those who were in charge of the administration of cricket in Guyana, including, these two directors of the West Indies Cricket Board.

The concern of the Government of Guyana was further escalated by the public contention of these persons, including the two directors of the West Indies Cricket Board, that they transferred these assets into this private company owned by them, upon the express instructions of the West Indies Cricket Board.

If this assertion is indeed accurate, it means that the West Indies Cricket Board, in their engagements with the CARICOM Sub-Committee on Cricket and their engagements with the body appointed by this Committee with the mandate to resolve the impasse afflicting the administration of cricket in Guyana, was knowingly misleading in their contentions that the Government of Guyana and its agents were interfering with the assets of the Guyana Cricket Board, since at that time, they knew full well that these assets were already transferred to a private company, and, upon their own directions. This must be of the greatest concern of the entire Region as it impacts upon the credibility of the West Indies Cricket Board and, again, it demonstrates the flagrant disdain with which they obviously regard CARICOM, as an institution, and of course the people of the Caribbean.

To date, the fact that no disclaimer has emanated from the West Indies Cricket Board further vindicates the position of the Government of Guyana.