Cricket best-run sport says sports minister
T&T Guardian Reports.
The T&T Cricket Board, headed by its three-term president Azim Bassarath, has been hailed as the best performing National Sports Organisation (NSO) by Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith.
He did so while delivering an address on Saturday night at the 59th prize-giving function organised by the TTCB for its National League 2015 Premiership competitions at the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) Auditorium at Rivulet Road, Couva. Smith, who played football for St Mary’s College, said the cricket organization, whose headquarters are located at Balmain in Couva, received the highest marks among NSOs from ministry officials whom he recently met shortly after being appointed as minister.
“The officials were unanimous in their declaration that cricket was the best administrated sport in T&T based on their manner in which the board conducted its business. There was no other organisation remotely close,” said Minister Smith to loud applause at the gala function.
He said TTCB president Bassarath and his executive had earned respect and admiration for their honesty, sincerity, scrupulous financial records, visionary plans and adherence to their set schedules and programmes.
“I was overwhelmed with the level of diligence, in fact I was blown away by their record of performance,” said Minister Smith to the large gathering which he commended for their togetherness and demonstration of deep-rooted family values. The minister revealed that he was so impressed with the TTCB’s high standards and execution of their responsibilities, that serious consideration is being given to the formation of an organisation comprising all NSOs where local cricket will be used as a model to attain administrative excellence.
“I believe that your officers can teach the other organisations how to lift their standards and we need to share this information with them to attain best practice,” Minister Smith told the appreciative audience. Smith said he was very concerned about the state of sports, not only locally, but internationally and referred to the ongoing investigations and controversies enveloping world football organisation FIFA which he described as an “embarrassment.”
He said the mis-steps plaguing West Indies cricket are also a source of worry and he noted that the TTCB has already stated their position, and that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, an avid cricket fan, spoke afterwards, observing all the established protocols.
Smith made it clear that unlike one of his predecessors, he will not be interfering in the administration of the game because he feels that the TTCB is a competent organization, and cautioned aggrieved parties from airing their dirty linen in public or going above the heads of elected officials.
He emphasized that he intends to make consultation a hallmark of his tenure as minister and that he is a stickler for protocol while acknowledging that officials are not perfect and are susceptible to make mistakes, but it was important to remain positive and passionate about their mission to serve the population.
