TTCB’S Mahabir defends women rights

President of the Clarke Road Cricket Club and national coaching director Baldath Mahabir is  stoutly defending the fact that the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Cricket Board of Control (TTWCBC) should be allowed to vote at the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) elections.

Mahabir’s call comes amidst an article in the local press that called for women not to be able to vote at the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) elections. According to Mahabir the journalist made mention that only a handful of women play cricket and they only play a handful of matches. This he said should disqualify them from voting at the TTCB’s election carded for October 29.  The TTWCBC headed by Gayle Daniel-Worrell has two votes at the TTCB annual general elections that is held every two years. However Mahabir took a stand for the women saying: “Those comments are really chauvinistic and should not be made without the proper facts. What is this man really trying to say, that women’s cricket is a dying sport? He must have missed the fact that recently we had a 14 year old girl from Trinidad and Tobago being chosen on a West Indies team. Women’s cricket is on the upswing in this country and to make such comments is really out of place and improper.”

“The West Indies women coach Ann Browne is an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and she is also on the West Indies Cricket Board development committee. In fact I think that the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board should be commended for having her and Donna Cox (no longer an executive member) serve at the top bracket of local cricket administration. The local Board had Ann Browne serve on the executive even before she was chosen by the West Indies Board to serve on the development committee.” “Women have demanded their place in society and now the sky’s the limit for them. They must be encouraged and not scorned. The gentleman apparently thinks that the women should be left to cater lunches and tea and not be involved at the playing and administrating level. What I would like to let him know is that we at the Cricket Board recognise and support women’s involvement in cricket and this will not change.”