Dominica Cricket Umpires Association holds 49th Annual General Meeting

The 49th Annual General Meeting of the Dominica Cricket Umpires Association was held on Tuesday 18th June, 2013 at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium. A large number of umpires and retired umpires turned out on this occasion.

The meeting was declared open at 5:00 p.m. by the president, Lenox Abraham, who called on Pastor Auguiste, a member, to grace the meeting with a prayer of blessings. A one-minute silence was observed for those who had fallen in recent times including former national cricketer, Tom Lafond. The president welcomed all present and thanked them for turning out to this important meeting. Special thanks were expressed to Mr. Emanuel Nanthan, president of the Dominica Cricket Association (DCA) who is also president of the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) and lately Vice president of the West Indies Cricket Board for his presence. In his report the president highlighted the different stages of the association during those 49 years.

He said come next year this association will be 50 years old.

"Those 50 years could be looked upon with pride as we have served the game with dignity. Fifty years in the life of any organisation is something to be proud of. It must be said that strong leadership has seen us through. To those young umpires rest assured that you have joined an organisation that has made its mark in so far as umpires and umpiring are concerned in which Billy Doctrove stands supreme, he said.

To the young and promising umpires he reminded them of the five essentials of a good umpire which are honesty, thorough knowledge of the laws, control of temper, concentration and a thorough knowledge of the game.

"We have in our midst someone to whom we can look up to and that is Billy Doctrove, retired Elite umpire whose performance in umpiring has made not only the Dominica Cricket Umpires Association proud but to a large extent all umpiring organizations in the Caribbean. We all join in wishing Billy a happy retirement. Surely you have played your part. This coming umpires convention to be held in Trinidad & Tobago from 30th June to 6th July, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the coming into being of the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association. This convention promises to be a grand affair, the president said, as two of our members will be seeking to hold two important offices, those of executive vice president for which Billy will be contesting and Area Vice President or Area B with responsibility for the Windward Islands which I will be contesting. Currently Billy is the Area Vice president for the past 18 years replacing Philip Alleyne who held his office for 26 years, the only two persons to hold this office since 1969," he said.

In his brief remarks Mr Nanthan said that the success of cricket in Dominica is largely due to the umpires, because without umpires there would be no cricket. Cricket in Dominica is going places as the umpires are the heartbeat of the game.

He wished the association all the very best in the coming fifty years of its existence. Election of officers saw an almost entirely new executive, with Lennox Abraham the only one re-elected from the past executive. The officers elected were : Lennox Abraham, re-elected un-opposed president; Pastor Matthew Auguiste, vice president; Joseph Thomas, secretary; Claudius Lestrade, Assist Sec/Treasurer; committee members: Candy Williams and Michael Royer. A vote of thanks was moved by Pastor Matthew Auguiste which brought an end to the proceedings.