ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – A West Indies Cricket Board delegation has concluded a series of high level meetings with various stakeholders in Guyana. The meetings took place on June 23 and 24.

The WICB delegation met with representatives of the Government of Guyana, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) in separate meetings.

The WICB delegation included Vice President Emmanuel Nanthan, Director Anand Sanasie, Legal Officer Alanna Medford and WICB external counsel Walter Scott QC and Roysdale Forde.

The objective of the meetings was for the WICB to raise its concerns with the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill which had been passed in the National Assembly on May 15. Further the WICB delegation sought to discuss with the various parties the best way, in light of the issues created by the passage of the Bill, to take the matter forward so as not to unduly affect cricket in Guyana, particularly since the Bill has not yet been assented into law by His Excellency President Donald Ramotar.

The WICB is pleased to report that the tone and content of all the meetings were generally positive, with all parties recognising the reason for concern on the part of WICB and the need for certain areas of the Bill to be addressed. Over the course of the meetings, the parties for the most part agreed on the issues in the Bill which need to be revised. Another central focus of the discussions was the best way to achieve a solution which would be in the interest of all parties.

It was agreed that the WICB would prepare a Memorandum of Agreement which would be signed by the Government of Guyana, the WICB and the GCB. The MOA would identify those areas of the Bill which the parties agreed need revision and set out the revisions to be made. The MOA would also prescribe a strict timeline to be followed for the implementation of the revisions.

The parties hope that this solution can be agreed and implemented within the next week.

Vice President Nanthan commented: “The WICB thanks the Government – particularly the Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and Attorney General Anil Nandlall – and the opposition parties. WICB is positive that we are on a path that can help in the process and look forward to the next few weeks as we continue our negotiations with positive anticipation”.