JEDDAH: The Jeddah Cricket Association recently elected a new executive committee for a two-year term in the presence of nearly all the team representatives.
The elections, held at La Sani Restaurant, were the first for the new cricket body and was free and fair. A four-member election monitoring team conducted the elections that saw 11 members being elected.
Representatives of Pak Ahmadabad and Pure Foods were the only ones absent for the elections. Thirteen candidates fielded their candidature for the elections and representatives of the teams had to elect 11 from the ballots given to them.
The winners were as follow: Mohammad Iqbal, Aijaz Ahmed Khan, Syed Majeed Ul Hassan, Muhammad Akhtar Hussain, Ahsan Rafeh, Aizaz Ashraf Toor, Azizullah Shariff, Haroon Abdullah, Syed Muzaffar Hussain, Irfan Qureshi and Zaheer Peeran. JCA Chairman Dr. Faiz Al Abideen extolled the hard work done by the ad hoc committee in realizing a dream.
From the fledgling steps of the formation of the body to the search of grounds and its construction, he highlighted the help of every member in realizing these goals. He, however, singled out the dedication of the his deputy chairman Humayoon Farooq and Aijaz Ahmed Khan for their lead roles in the search and construction of the grounds.
He also appreciated all the members’ role, be it giving their time or money, in bringing to fruition an area where cricket could be played with panache.
He also spoke about the launch of the leagues by the star Pakistani cricketer Saeed Anwar and his support. He singled out the festival matches and the inaugural T10 event that had cash prizes for the first time as noteworthy efforts of the ad hoc committee. President Mohammad Iqbal, who too thanked the ad hoc committee for their services, dissolved the ad hoc committee and handed over the proceedings of elections to the election officers & the observers.
The election proceeded smoothly and all the four election officers, L. Ramnarayan (Arab News), K.O.Paulson (Saudi Gazette), Raoof Tahir (Urdu News) and A.A. Merchant (Kanoo), counted the ballots and declared the winners in what they all termed as free & fair elections.
Later the JCA newly elected members unanimously chose the office bearers that will work under the patronage of Tariq Al Maeena. Dr. Faiz Al Abideen — chairman and Humayoon Farooq — vice chairman. Mohammad Iqbal — president, Aijaz Ahmed Khan — vice president, Syed Majeed Ul Hassan — general secretary, Haroon Abdullah Bin Mehfooz — secretary administration, Aizaz Ashraf Toor — secretary public Relations, Syed Muzaffar Hussain — secretary technical, Muhammad Akhtar Hussain — secretary finance, Irfan Qureshi — joint secretary administration, Azizullah Sheriff — joint secretary technical and Ahsan Rafeh — joint secretary finance. The JCA sponsors, spearheaded by Mohammad Afzal, the GM of Initial Landscaping Company, Chowdry Mohammad Ashraf Gulam, GM of Al Harazi Trading & Contracting Est., Syed Abdul Khadar Qasim, GM of Fatima Al Aqqad Est. were also present.
