ST GEORGES, Grenada, CMC – CARICOM Heads of Government have requested an “urgent meeting” with the embattled West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), in a move aimed at to having the far-reaching recommendations of the Cricket Review Panel report implemented swiftly.
Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, who is Chairman of CARICOM’s Cricket Governance Committee, told a media conference here yesterday that contact had already been made with the WICB regarding the critical meeting that could ultimately determine the future of the Board and the sport in the region.
Mitchell said WICB President Dave Cameron had informed him of a pending meeting on December 12 but he had indicated that the urgency of the situation demanded an earlier date.
“The Prime Ministerial sub-committee, together with a few other heads, have consulted and agreed we should write the West Indies Cricket Board for an urgent meeting with the sub-committee and any other heads who wish to attend,” Mitchell said.
“Some heads have expressed they want to be there – that’s how seriously they are taking it – and they expect to have this meeting very soon to look at going forward.”
He continued: “He (Cameron) did say the board was planning to meet on [December] 12th and I said that can’t be a demonstration of the urgency that we seek and the Heads certainly are looking for an urgent meeting to look at going forward, so I expect that we should be seeing a much earlier meeting than the West Indies Cricket Board president had in fact indicated.”
The major recommendation arising from the report was the “immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board and the appointment of an Interim Board whose structure and composition will be radically different from the now proven, obsolete governance framework.”
Also, the panel recommended the appointment of an interim board and a change management expert to run the affairs of cricket in the region until the new governance structure could be implemented.
Mitchell said these recommendations would be discussed at the proposed meeting and noted he did not expect push back from the WICB since the entity had participated fully in the establishing of the Cricket Review Panel.
“It is at that meeting we will in fact indicate how we see it as far as the time frame for moving forward. And we don’t wish to put them in a corner by stating publicly before what our time frame will be,” he explained.
“We want the meeting face to face to look at going forward and since they were part of the process that agreed to set up this committee and to accept its recommendations and to implement it, I don’t see how they can afford to do otherwise.”
Mitchell, however, acknowledged that they were reports with recommendations already before the WICB which had not been implemented.
He stressed, though, that the current report was different as it had the full backing of CARICOM Heads who were all deeply concerned by the decline of the game in the region.
“This one (report) is different because the heads are directly involved. This is the first time the Heads of Government have in fact mandated an initiative to deal with change in the governance structure of West Indies cricket,” the Grenadian leader pointed out.
“And all it has asked is to take into consideration previous reports that had some useful recommendations in it and they have made it very clear that we will stand united in this effort because it is not about personalities, it is about the governance of the cricket itself and because it holds such an important place in the hearts of all Caribbean people.”
He continued: “The taxpayers of the region are the ones that fund the infrastructure of West Indies cricket, they (WICB) are the ones that spend all the resources. And I don’t see how the Board can refuse to come to terms with the persons who represent the taxpayers, whose monies are used for the sport. That, to me, must be an important leverage in every respect.
“I believe and I think it is important not to give out all the cards that we believe we hold in dealing with this matter. When we meet with the board, we will in fact indicate how we see things.”
The Cricket Review Panel, which was chaired by UWI Cave Hill Campus principal, Professor Eudine Barriteau, also recommended the resignation of the entire Board membership, contending that the “the standards of corporate, collective accountability” demanded such.
A Board comprising nine members “selected on the basis of proven professional competencies” has been suggested, with a head hunting firm overseeing this process.
Mitchell said the report and its recommendations were critical for the transformation of the ailing sport and the standard of governance, and CARICOM would be throwing its full weight behind the process.
“The CARICOM leadership recognise the importance of this initiative,” Mitchell stressed.
“They have mandated that this be done and so far, they have demonstrated absolute unity in this process and therefore I cannot see a case where we will drop this ball … because this is their ball, this initiative came from them – from us – and therefore we can’t drop this ball.”
The Cricket Review Panel was appointed by CARICOM’s Prime Ministerial Committee on Cricket earlier this year and tasked with the responsibility of assessing the governance structure in West Indies cricket and making recommendations.
Professor Barriteau was joined on the panel by Sir Dennis Byron, president of the Caribbean Court of Justice; West Indies cricket legend Deryck Murray; Warren Smith, president of the Caribbean Development Bank, and Dwain Gill, president of the Grenada Cricket Association.
