KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Pat Rousseau and Chris Dehring have expressed different views on Jamaica or other territories seceding from the West Indies Cricket Board.
Rousseau, the former president of the WICB, has dismissed the talk of secession as pure balderdash, and Dehring, the former managing director of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, feels such a prospect should not be taken lightly.
Their views were expressed in exclusive interviews with the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, and follows suggestions in Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica that both nations should pursue taking part in global cricket competitions individually.
“I don’t see any of the islands having the infrastructure in place to sustain going it alone,” said Rousseau.
“To perform at the highest level, a country needs to have proper facilities, leagues, coaches, and so on to keep producing players of a certain quality on a consistent basis.
“At present, neither the West Indies, much less individual islands, have these.”
Rousseau also believes that secession would be a costly exercise for any territory that decides to pursue it.
“A programme of separation like that would probably cost about US $2 million or US $3 million a year, which is roughly what the Jamaica Football Federation needs to run football,” said Rousseau. “And if football can’t get it, how is cricket going to?
“I think we are fooling ourselves because of the Twenty20 success of T&T, and the big money that is involved in Twenty20 in the IPL.’
He added: “What if T&T was to get to the next Champions League tournament and get kicked out in the first round, would everybody be saying what they are saying now?
“If we were to separate, the West Indies would lose its Test status, individual islands would eventually be humiliated, and we would gain nothing.”
Dehring worked closely with Rousseau to ensure West Indies successfully bid to host the 2007 World Cup, but he disagreed with his former boss.
“I think the [territorial boards] should always keep one eye on the possibility,” said Dehring.
He continued: “We love West Indies cricket and want it to survive for historical reasons, but at the same time all administrators need to keep looking for opportunities and trends.
“If you are thinking in a 15 years onwards time frame, there is every reason to believe individual countries within the Caribbean could be able to compete internationally at Twenty20 cricket on their own.”
