Mahmood Gaznavi to continue as Singapore Cricket Association president till 2027

SINGAPORE – A tussle for the sport’s top seat was on the cards, when members of the fraternity turned out for the Singapore Cricket Association’s (SCA) annual general meeting (AGM) on Sept 24.

But instead, the contest turned out to be a damp squib as presidential hopeful Anton J. Ravindran pulled out just minutes before the start of the election – incumbent Mahmood Gaznavi returned for a new three-year term as a result.

Ravindran had handed a letter outlining his decision to Gaznavi before the AGM, which was attended by about 50 people.

In his letter, Ravindran, who is the president of the Ceylon Sports Club and contested the 2023 election, cited two main reasons for his withdrawal.

The first reason was the executive committee’s voting rights as per the SCA constitution, which he called “unacceptable”. He also cited the restriction of each member club to only one representative at the meeting.

Regarding the committee’s voting powers, he told The Straits Times: “We have raised this issue and we’re going to continue to raise this issue because it is completely unfair.

“We will further study whether the constitution, to do whatever we can, to protect, to improve, to transform the continuous dip in the standing of cricket.

“An AGM is a platform where you come and raise your concerns, whatever concern it may be, maybe financial, governance or compliance, but for the first time other stakeholders were restricted from attending.”

The SCA constitution, which was amended in March following an extraordinary general meeting, allows for the 15-member clubs and seven members of the executive committee to vote for SCA changes and elections – the rights of its life members have been removed.

The amendment also increased the term of the executive committee from one to three years, in line with other national sports associations.

The Sept 24 meeting was a stark contrast to a year ago, when its AGM drew heated discussions and questions from attendees. Gaznavi beat Ravindran 16-8 then.

With Ravindran withdrawing from the contest for the top job this time, elections were then held for six other positions in SCA’s executive committee. Subir Ghatak (deputy president), Santhanam Sundaramoorthi (vice-president), Rajesh Balakrishnan (vice-president), Manesh Muraleedharan (honorary secretary) and Shantonu Bhadury (honorary treasurer) were all re-elected.

Ajmal Rasheed Manisseril (individual members’ representative) did not seek re-election and was replaced by Rashid Ahmed Khan.

Gaznavi, 62, has been cricket chief since 2015 and he will now begin his 10th stint in the SCA. He had come under fire from affiliates in the 2023 AGM, when several members pressed the association to secure a new training ground.

Then, the national teams were training at a shared facility at the Singapore Indian Association after vacating their previous home in Kallang in 2016.

The association eventually moved into its new home at the West Coast Ground in February.

Gaznavi noted that SCA needs to “get our facilities in order, to up our support and structure so that it becomes an acceptable destination for foreign teams to come here”.

He added: “What we really want to do is try and see how we can create a culture of more competition for places in the national team by maybe throwing some of our younger players into the deeper end.

“I wouldn’t say that the present state of affairs is something to be happy about, certainly we’ve had challenges in the national team training and we recognise that handicap, and we’ve got to recalibrate our expectations accordingly.”