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By Robert Andre Emmanuel
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With a demanding ICC Cricket schedule seeing Sir Richie out as Sports Commissioner, Sports Minister Daryll Matthew has praised Princess Margaret School principal Dr Colin Greene as one who can bring his history of administrating sporting excellence to the position.
The Sport Minister, speaking to reporters during a tour in the Crabb’s Peninsula, said that the decision to Dr Greene as Commissioner of Sports comes after conversations with Sir Richie Richardson revealed an expanding schedule as an Elite ICC Match Referee.
In September 2024, former West Indies captain and successful batsman Sir Richie Richardson was announced by the government to become the country’s latest Commissioner of Sports following unsuccessful talks to make him a government senator and junior minister.
Following the announcement, Sir Richie, speaking to Observer media, said that he was ready to “make a positive contribution to the development of our sports and sporting facilities.”
However, nearly nine months since the announcement, a burgeoning schedule in ICC cricket and intensive travel has hampered the ability of both Sir Richie and the government to formalise the appointment.
“Sir Richie Richardson, we’ve been having some conversations, and his time simply is not allowing him to be able to take up the position and to function in a way that we have,” Minister Matthew told reporters.
“There’s a lot more international cricket being played and with him being an ICC match referee, it’s just not giving him the time that we expected, and he probably expected to have, so he has agreed that he will step back from that appointment.”
Sir Richie had publicly addressed these scheduling constraints in early May on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, where he disclosed having “no further communication” with government officials regarding the role’s formalisation.
The Sports Minister revealed that the government had begun discussions with Dr Greene several weeks ago after the veteran educator expressed an interest in pursuing new professional challenges following his nearly 23-year tenure at PMS.
“We had some discussions with Dr Colin Greene several weeks ago and he expressed an interest in having a new direction in his career,” the minister said. “He has given enormous service to Princess Margaret. I don’t believe there are too many persons in Antigua and Barbuda who would dispute that he has transformed that school in an amazingly positive way.”
The minister emphasized that Greene’s appointment represented a natural career progression for an administrator who has demonstrated exceptional leadership capabilities in both academic and sporting contexts throughout his educational tenure.
Under Dr Greene’s stewardship, PMS has achieved unprecedented success in local athletic competitions, capturing multiple titles in both male and female categories of the Antigua and Barbuda Inter-School Track and Field Championship.
The institution’s athletic programmes have expanded to include regional participation, with school teams competing in the 2024 Schools Relay championships in Trinidad and Tobago.
He has also implemented several recognition programmes, establishing the school’s annual Hall of Fame ceremony to honour former students who have achieved sporting excellence, helping to preserve and celebrate the school’s rich sporting legacy.
Dr Greene is now expected to work alongside Deputy Commissioner of Sports Joel Rayne, who unsuccessfully sought the role as the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party caretaker for St George earlier this year.ICC schedule forces Richardson out as Dr Greene praised for sporting excellence
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