“I WISH to condemn the Azim Bassarath, leading Executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), in the strongest possible terms for its neglect and failure to implement the recommendations of an Independent Committee which was set up for the sole purpose of considering the Constitutional Arrangements of the cricket board.
The public would be aware there have been numerous complaints throughout the cricketing fraternity as it pertains to the governance structure of the TTCB and in particular the process by which the Executive of this important national institution is elected.
It is the view of many learned persons that the current provisions of the TTCB Constitution are undemocratic, unfair and result in the preservation of a self-serving clique and/or cabal continuously re-electing themselves to control the administration of cricket in Trinidad and Tobago.
This matter has resulted in litigation which is currently before the Honourable Court. However, in an effort to have this issue settled, all parties agreed to an independent committee being set up, led by the Honourable Justice Kokeram, a leading progressive jurist in our country, and including Dr Sheila Rampersad (eminent journalist and intellectual) and Mr Ellis Clark (former president of the cricket board) to independently review the constitutional arrangements of the TTCB and make recommendations for the improvement of same.
It is a matter of fact and record that this committee has concurred with my view and the view of many right-thinking members of the cricket fraternity, that the current rules are completely undemocratic and should be changed for the more transparent, effective and participatory administration of cricket.
Unfortunately, rather than act responsibly for the benefit of cricket, the Executive of the TTCB, led by Mr Azim Bassarath, continues to suppress and delay consideration of this report and refuses to take the necessary steps to have these modern and progressive recommendations implemented.
At the last meeting of the TTCB, measures were taken by the Executive to ensure that consideration and implementation of this report be deferred rather than be given priority. In particular, prior to the last meeting of the TTCB the executive had requested time to obtain a legal opinion and took a month to do so.
However, upon the board being reconvened, the president quite surprisingly read from a piece of paper something which he claimed was a legal opinion but refused to say who was the lawyer engaged to provide the opinion, or even to disclose a copy of what he was purporting to read.
This was unacceptable in my view as I believe that if the Executive of a body requests time to obtain legal opinion for the benefit of the TTCB as a whole, then that opinion should have been disclosed to the entire board in accordance with basic principles of transparency.
The concealment of the source and content of this opinion lends to the inference that no opinion was in fact obtained. I, however, wish to thank the South Zone who, on their own initiative sought and obtained legal opinion from Senior Counsel and provided it to all members.
The love of cricket resides in the DNA of every West Indian and in particular every Trinidadian. However, it seems that those entrusted with the administration of cricket act not for the love of the sport, but to preserve their own parasitic arrangements.
It is my view that the love of cricket and competent administration would ensure that this report be given priority in the current imbroglio surrounding the administration of cricket.
It cannot be right that where an independent committee, comprising a leading and progressive jurist in our country, tells the Executive of the TTCB that its rules are undemocratic and not in the interest of cricket, that the Executive is allowed to simply ignore that report, because if the recommendations of the report are implemented it may lead to members of the Executive being deposed from office. That in my respectful view is not the act of an Executive interested in cricket; that is the act of a dictatorship desperately clinging to office.
As a former captain of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team, I understand the passion that surrounds cricket in this country and appreciate that our beloved sport is too important a national institution to be left in the hands of a few self-serving individuals.
As I once vowed to ensure our cricket team achieve both regional and international success and recognition, I now solemnly vow to do what is necessary to ensure that the administration of cricket is protected and transformed into a system that would ensure that our cricket remains a source of national pride.
I call on all members of the cricketing fraternity, sports fans, sports commentators and indeed every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago to join our struggle to rescue cricket from the hands of its current captors.”
Warm regards,
Daren Ganga