Georgetown, Guyana – The Guyana Cricket Board, at its Annual General Meeting on Sunday adopted, by unanimous vote of 18-0, a new Constitution. Following the adoption of the constitution, elections were held and Mr. Drubahadur (one name only) was elected President.
Mr. Drubahadur was the lone nomination for the top position at the elections which were held at the Georgetown Cricket Club.
He has taken over from Fizul Bacchus who acted in the position following the resignation of Ramsey Ali after a contentious elections in 2011. Bacchus, an Essequibian, and Alfred Mentore, the President of the Demerara Cricket Club were returned as Vice Presidents.
Also returning to their respective positions as Secretary and Treasurer were Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen.
Longstanding Public Relations Officer, Terry Holder, was nominated to be elected to return to the office which he held for over a decade but declined the nomination due to ill health. Andy Ramnarine was subsequently elected to the position.
Raj Singh was elected Marketing Manager.
Full list of elected office bearers:
President – Drubahadur
Vice President (Administration) – Fizul Bacchus
Vice President (Cricket Operations) – Alfred Mentore
Secretary – Anand Sanasie
Treasurer – Anand Kalladeen
Assistant Secretary – Veeren Chintamani
Assistant Treasurer – Rajesh Singh
Chairman of Competitions Committee – Colin Europe
Marketing Manager – Raj Singh
Public Relations Officer – Andy Ramnarine
Trustees – Lalta Digamber and Ramdeo Kumar
Auditing firm, Barcellos Narine was also elected to be auditors of the Guyana’s governing cricket authority.
In brief remarks following the election Mr. Drubahadur thanked the delegates for their support and committed to working in the best interest of cricket in Guyana.
"I wish to thank the delegates for the confidence in which they have placed in me and I want to assure that I will do my utmost for cricket and I will work with all stakeholders to ensure that the game develops and thrives," Mr. Drubahadur said.
The GCB constitutionally requires the presence of at least two of the three county boards and a total of 12 delegates to form a quorum to have elections. The Demerara Cricket Board and the Essequibo Cricket Board were in attendance and a total of 18 delegates (9 each from the two counties) were present.
The Berbice Cricket Board did not attend the AGM or participate in the elections.
Secretary of the GCB, Sanasie explained that, as required by the constitution, notice of the meeting was sent by post to the three county boards and was published in the newspaper. The notice was published on December 25th last he explained. He further said that he ensured that notice of the meeting was hand delivered to the secretaries of the three county boards.
At the request of the GCB, the AGM and elections were observed by West Indies Cricket Board Director Conde Riley and Corporate Communications Officer Imran Khan. Christopher Matthias was the Returning Officer and Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and WICB Security Manager Paul Slowe was scrutineer.
Prior to the adoption of the new constitution the members of the AGM went through the document, clause by clause. There was vibrant discussion and debate on a number of issues and at least one matter had to be settled by a vote.
The first order of business for the new executive, at its first meeting, would be to appoint the Chairmen of the Selection Committees (Junior and Senior).
The newly elected executive held a press conference immediately following the elections and briefed the media on various issues pertaining to the administration of cricket, including working with the various county boards, players, coaches, government and all other stakeholders for the development of cricket in Guyana.
Holder was the first person to congratulate the new executive and offered his full support, notwithstanding his decision to not seek office for another term.