Ex-Guyana Cricket Board exec Sanasie withdraws candidacy for CWI president

Former secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board Anand Sanasie -
Former secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board Anand Sanasie -

ANAND Sanasie will no longer run for president of Cricket West Indies (CWI).

Sanasie was expected to contest the CWI elections against incumbent Ricky Skerritt in the postponed CWI Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 11. The AGM was scheduled to be held on March 28 but was postponed because representatives of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) did not show up.

On March 29 the GCB held elections.

Sanasie served as secretary for the GCB executive which was defeated. After the GCB elections, it was uncertain if Sanasie was still eligible to run for the CWI elections.

He and Anand Kalladeen, who served as treasurer on the previous GCB, were the CWI directors representing the GCB under former GCB president Dru Bahadur.

Bahadur was replaced by Bissondyal Singh Snr as the GCB president. Under the new executive, former West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan will serve as the chairman of selectors for the senior Guyana men’s team.

In a statement, received by Newsday on Thursday, Sanasie said, "Further to a joint statement issued by myself and Mr Calvin Hope and because of a barrage of messages and phone calls, I issue the following statement.

"Following recent developments, I have reassessed my candidacy for the position of the president of CWI. I remain deeply concerned at the manner in which events unfolded recently both at the Cricket West Indies level and at the level of the GCB." It is uncertain if Hope will still go up against Dr Kishore Shallow for the position of CWI vice-president.

Later on in his statement, Sanasie said, "After deep reflection and consultations with my advisers I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for presidency of CWI. I will shortly write to the corporate secretary to advise her accordingly. Consequently, I take this opportunity to extend congratulations and best wishes to Mr Ricky Skerritt since he will be uncontested. I urge that more deliberate efforts be made to strengthen the finances of CWI and to improve in the areas of prudent fiscal management, accountability and transparency. I also urge that greater respect be accorded to territorial boards and that there is considerably more inclusivity in executive decision making and corporate governance. I also extend a special thank you to Mr Hope for his work and dedication to this campaign and certainly for answering the call to serve."

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the GCB explained why representatives did not attend the CWI AGM. The release said, "The main reason for this decision was that the current leadership of CWI failed to conform with the statutory requirements of the Articles of Association and present audited financial statement of CWI. Financial statements must be sent to shareholders 14 days before the AGM and are required to be approved by the board of directors. This was not done for the first time in decades."

In the AGM timeline, the CWI said, "Draft CWI financial statements (were) sent to all members, having been approved by audit risk and compliance and finance committees and CWI board of directors," on March 13.

Sanasie believes the decision by the BCA and the GCB to boycott the elections helped save CWI from embarrassment. "A major scandal was averted by the judicious and prudent actions of the BCA and the GCB to save CWI global embarrassment and ridicule. Even though I was personally aware of the likely consequences at my home base doing the right thing was never a question for me or the GCB."

Speaking about the GCB elections, Sanasie said, "Unjust, irregular, imprudent and hasty actions taken by the partisan and compromised Minister of Sport in Guyana, Mr Charles Ramson Jr, have led to dubious GCB elections being held and a new group purporting to be the new executive installed. I am advised by my legal team that these elections cannot withstand judicial scrutiny which may arise and which have every possibility of prevailing. It should also be noted that the court-ordered Demerara Cricket Board election is very likely to be set aside."

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"Ex-Guyana Cricket Board exec Sanasie withdraws candidacy for CWI president"

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