Slate prepared to oppose Lequay and company

The incumbent executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) are expecting strong opposition from a slate led by Deryck Murray at this Saturday’s elections at Couva. This according to a source close to the TTCB.

“We are getting ourselves ready for the announcement of a slate to oppose us. We are not afraid of this, as a matter of fact we welcome the challenge and the chance for democracy to prevail,” the source said. “The opposing slate is expected to be headed by Murray and includes president of the Secondary Schools Cricket Council (SSCC) Forbes Persaud and Lalman Kowlessar of the Central Zone,” he said. Recently Murray denied that he belonged to any slate and said he was going up all alone against Ellis Lewis, current first vice-president of the TTCB.

When contacted yesterday, the vice-president of Marketing and Affinity at Guardian Life maintained he was going up alone. “There is no slate that I know of. Those other guys contesting are doing so on their own because they think they can make a contribution. As a matter of fact you can go up if you want Vinode against me and Ellis. I cannot stop anyone from contesting the elections. As I have said before, I am in this thing to help cricket and not take over cricket in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. But the TTCB source said they expected some surprises on election day when “certain people are put forward for election to office.” “There has been serious campaigning all along targetting members who they think are opposed to the outgoing president Alloy Lequay. They think that these people can tip the scales in favour of the former standout West Indies wicket keeper/batsman,” the source said. “As we have said all along Deryck is welcome at the Board level and we really wanted him to work with us from the position of nominated member and work his way up the ladder. We at the Cricket Board believe in stability and in this case we are voting in another way we believe in and that is succession,” he said. “Deryck is a bonus to any organisation and we want him even at this stage to give up the fight and come work with us. Our message to him is that he must come and work with us for the betterment of the game and we think this is an ideal way to show what he can contribute,” he said.