Another resignation leaves NPCA credibility in tatters

The Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association was plunged into another crisis with the resignation of Nilesh Lakhani from the executive.

Lakhani, who is chairman of the Parklands club, is seen as one of the people within the NPCA who actually gets things done, and his resignation will be a serious blow to the credibility of the already beleaguered executive. The NPCA has already lost its chairman and secretary this year.

What will really hurt the NPCA is the stinging attack on the executive's abilities in his letter of resignation. "I have looked at the position and have concluded that I have no confidence in the way that NPCA is currently operating," he wrote. "It is no secret that there is no proper management in the NPCA executive. It is something we have been criticised for by everyone who has any sensible interest in cricket.

It has been difficult for me to understand not only who is running the NPCA but also how it is run. At present the NPCA has no "official" chairman, it has no vice-chairman and now it has no "official" secretary . How long are you going to continue like this? And yet we continue to pretend to the outside world that we have no problems without accepting our fault.

"I have taken little part in attending NPCA meetings over the past several months ... [because] the way in which NPCA executive meetings are called is pathetic. I usually receive an SMS around 4.30 pm on a particular day saying that NPCA executive will be meeting at 7.00 pm on the same day to discuss urgent matters. How can you operate in this way and expect commitment from members?"

Lakhani's attack on the NPCA comes after months in which the executive has been roundly condemned from all sides for its lack of openness and accountability and its continual stalling of the introduction of a new constitution and an AGM.

This might turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back and it will be hard to see how, bereft of its last credible administrator, the current executive can carry on with any credibility.