TTCB – News

Azim Bassarath’s Acceptance Speech
October 29, 2011

Duly elected members of the TTCB, Honorary members, Honorary Life members and nominated members. 

There is a saying, one is nice but the second time around is twice as enjoyable. I mean for everyone here today, it is indeed a great feeling to stand here before you and accept your invitation to serve for another two years. 

Let me at the beginning also extend on behalf  of the T&T Cricket Board sincerest congratulations to Brian Lara on being bestowed with a Doctor of Letters honorary degree by the University of the West Indies.

And how can we proceed also without basking in the glory of  emerging international fashion designer Anya Ayoung-Chee who gave T&T much to cheer about when she was crowned winner on Thursday of the challenging Project Runway competition in New York which was seen all over the world on prime-time cable television.

Both nationals of  Trinidad and Tobago continue to push the envelope for all of us establishing new standards of achievement which helps us to make our mark despite the pitfalls that test our courage, determination and confidence in ourselves.

These are the qualities that we have also had to draw upon in the past months in what has been another victorious campaign to keep the T&T cricket ship on course and sailing into a bright future for all.

I wish to extend an humble and sincere “Thank You” to members of the Board for returning me to office and I gave them the assurance that the confidence and goodwill extended to me and the other members of the executive are not misplaced.

It was only two years ago that I stood here, like now, to accept your mandate to serve the national and regional community through cricket along with a like-minded team of dedicated and hard-working people.

We had achieved victory then after a hard-fought innings to rescue local cricket from the precipice which left unchecked would have placed the sport in total chaos.

As the new officers batted through difficult periods, we were never short on encouragement from which we derived our strength and courage, and then as we did today, we quietly emerged victorious to serve another day.

To all those members of this Board who were elected or selected by their respective zones or affiliates to represent them at this honorable forum, I say “Congratulations”.

To all those who have served in the past, in the best interest of the game of cricket, I also acknowledge your contribution. It has not gone unnoticed.

Today as we begin another innings, we must reflect on what legendary Guyana and West Indian batsman Rohan Kanhai said to Brian Lara after he had basked in the much-deserved glory and adulation of his 277 in Sydney, Australia.

The then WI coach Kanhai told Lara: “Don’t forget every innings, including your next begins at zero.” If today marks the first ball of my innings, well then it begins at zero.

The achievements of our first term in office are behind us. The many good things, the few bad ones and the mis-steps, they are past. Over the past two years we have made giant strides in establishing the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board as the best run sports organization in the nation.

It is no mean feat but stands testimony to the hard work of the executive but quite apart from the administrative successes we note that a change in the mindset of the cricket fraternity who have become more responsible and motivated to work together without  the arrogance and haughtiness of the previous administration.

On assuming leadership it was clear that we needed to cultivate a culture of respect and acknowledgement of the accomplishments of our predecessors in the Cricket Board.

We found that the well-crafted and well-grounded structure of the T&T Cricket Board was being threatened by men who never understood nor participated in the struggle that administrators of old fought off the cricket field for the benefit of the national community.

The battles between the grass roots people with a passion for the game versus the ruling elite resulted in a victory for the people – and cricket really and truly was handed back to the clubs and communities to which it belonged.

To give an example of how petty and vindictive were members of the previous administration, we found that a very senior member of the then Board, who also held a management post, went so far as to remove historical pictures from the walls of the administrative building, the people’s building, and put them face down in a cardboard box.

If they had been allowed to remain longer, there was a fear that they would have reversed all the gains made by the past champions who so gallantly fought for and won our cricketing freedom.

Thank God for you, each and every one of you, who stood up and fought to return our game, our sport, our Board to the place where the biblical David had slain the giant elitist Goliaths. Never must we again even think of walking that pathway.

In our first two years in office, fellow Board Members, we have made huge positive strides. Despite severe financial challenges brought about by reduced Government funding, we were able to achieve on and off the field to make the nation proud.

We aim to continue along that path in 2012 when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the T&T Cricket Board, an occasion we will dutifully mark with a series of events and functions, the details of which will be revealed in due course.

We have already looked deep into the future and have committed ourselves to at least two measures that will help us stand out as a national sports organization truly in step with the 21st century.

I refer to the “going Green” campaign recently launched by the Cricket Board where hundreds of trees will be planted in and around the National Cricket Centre in conjunction with Government Policy which is designed to reduce the carbon footprint of our nation and help us become for environment friendly.

There is also the plan to utilize solar power in the near future which make the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre completely self-sufficient in its energy needs and make the institution one of its kind in the region.

This same Academy at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Development Centre is once again a major success after being neglected by the previous regime. It is now the finishing school of our revamped  island-wide grassroots coaching programmes have been restarted and will be restructured in the coming years to ensure quality delivery of our coaching programmes twelve months per year.

The Cricket Board continues to strengthen our relationship with Women’s Cricket, the Umpires and Scorers’ Council and the Primary Schools. It continue to grow stronger for the great benefit of the game,

During this term of office we will work closer with the Secondary Schools and the Tobago Cricket Association to ensure that the entire fraternity moves forward together, in harmony and in brotherhood.

We are aware that our fully-owned facility here at Balmain is now a decade old. It is time for some Tender Loving Care to be given to a partner that has stood the test of time. During this term in office, we must pay closer attention to our home.

Aside from refurbishment, we must consider major improvements. international quality lights for night cricket, accommodation for patrons, improvements to the Sir Frank Worrell Centre including our outdoor nets and generally whatever it takes to make our home a preferred place for our cricketers and cricket fans to enjoy playing and watching this great game.

Our national teams, at age group and senior levels, men and women, have made us proud over the last two years, and have also left us weeping at times. However, the sum total is that the entire graph is showing an encouraging upward movement.

At Under-15 level we placed second in the regional tournament, and though we were unbeaten in the Under-19 tournament, we emerged runners-up and had personal successes with no less than five players being selected on the West Indies Under-19 team at different times.

Our women also chalked up significant success as a team, and the exploits of several individual players are being watched by cricket fans all over.

Anisa Mohamed, a resident of Sangre Grande is one of the top-rated women’s cricketers with a world world to her name and skipper Merrissa Aguillera is another proud product of Moruga, who both continue to lead us with distinction.

As the young people will say “MORUGA ROCKS”.

Our Senior Men’s team continues its annual roller-coaster ride that will even make Disney World green with envy. Some days we seem unbeatable and on others we are flat as a new bride’s first sada roti.

What amazes me, and I am sure you will agree with me, is if we can at times raise our game to giddying heights why can’t we at least be consistent and not plummet to some heart-wrenching lows.

I read and heard during the recent Champions League T20 in India our team being described as one that does not know how to lose. Our battles to escape from the jaws of defeat are epic but our failure to capture the Regional Four-Day title is still an elusive dream after so many years. We must strive to correct this.

On a futuristic note, our business development model may see Trinidad and Tobago developing strategic alliances in India, Sri Lanka and South Africa as our T-20 brand becomes accepted and valued in the sporting world.

As I speak of alliances, let me state that our relationship with the West Indies Cricket Board is at this time very strong and positive. We know that our inputs are sought and valued and that we have contributed to new initiatives that are showing early positive signs.

These include the Sagicor High Performance Centre, the Digicel Grassroots Programme, the West Indies ‘A’ team tours, the West Indies Under-19 team, the West Indies Women’s Team and the Caribbean T-20 competition. We are firmly part of the West Indies Cricket Family and there we will remain.

Equally, we also share a great relationship with West Indies Players’ Association, and as a board, we acknowledge players as the most important resource of our sport and encourage their meaningful, fair, honest, and balanced inputs to the administration and development of the game.

Our players continue to grace the world stage, with no fewer than six, including stand-in captain of the West Indies, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, playing in an One Day International versus  Balgladesh in the sub-continent.

And this regional team my friends, is still without Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Kevon Cooper, Ryad Emrit and Samuel Badree to name a just a few with the talent to challenge for a place.

As a Board, we treasure and value our Independence thus we fully recognize the momentous year 2012, when the Republic of T&T will celebrate its 50th Anniversary of Independence.

As a strong and patriotic local organization, we will be dedicating our efforts of 2012 towards the grand celebration of our 50th birthday as an Independent nation.

In the near future we will seek to engage all our partners, including the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, to advise on the best possible role that our organization can play in this historical year. Perhaps our top 50 cricketers over the past 50 years as a start –or 50-50 for fifty- or any such promising and realistically workable ideas that will emanate from the fertile and creative minds of our cricketing populace.

We are proud of our country and we are energized and motivated by the great strides and milestone achievements of the past fifty years. We have completed a historic half-century and as we bask in the glory. we are all padded-up and ready to bat to make the second fifty an even better one for our sport, our people and our Nation.

Fellow Board members, as I close, let me urge you to take your responsibility seriously. You have been specially chosen by the cricket fraternity as one of its leaders. You have accepted their offer. Now you must deliver. As our boards’ prayer says: At the end of the day, may our decisions be pleasing to you, satisfying to ourselves and all those in whose service we labour.

We have chosen to serve our fellowmen, our community, and our country through cricket. At all times let’s put our best foot forward, let’s work in harmony and in brotherhood and I am sure that at the end of our term in office, we will be able to stand back, look at what we have achieved, shake hands and say. “Well done.”

My dear friends as you would know the relationship with some of our major stakeholders has not been a smooth one, as I take office for the second time I want to extend that hand of good will to all, for each and everyone of us to come together to work for the benefit of all our people who have chosen cricket as their choice of sport.

Ladies and gentlemen I extend my arms out to all the members of the Friends of the Cricket Group, to the Honourable Minister of Sport and all those who have a contribution to make to let us put our difference behind us and work for cricket.

Indeed all of us have a contribution to make to this great game. I am always open to all with a love and concern for the game and I look forward in the near future to meeting and discussing the way forward and your continued involvement in the sport.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you.