ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The West Indies Cricket Board is sticking to its guns regarding its proposed December meeting with CARICOM Heads of Government, as the back-and-forth between the two bodies over a suitable date for discussions on the far-reaching recommendations of the recent Governance Review Panel report.
In a letter addressed to CARICOM Secretary-General, Irwin Larocque on Tuesday, WICB president Dave Cameron said the Board of Directors meeting scheduled for December 12-13 in St Lucia remained the earliest date at which any meeting between the two bodies could take place, instead of the December 4 or 5 dates proposed by CARICOM.
Reiterating comments made recently at an event in Cayman Islands, Cameron said he had asked the Board of Directors to analyse the Governance Review Report and submit their findings by December 4.
As such, Cameron said it would be more suitable for the CARICOM Heads to join the Board of Directors in St Lucia at the already scheduled meeting.
“I respond accordingly today November 17th to your letter dated November 16th, formally requesting, for the first time, a meeting with WICB and the Cricket Governance Committee,” Cameron wrote in the letter to Larocque.
“Further to our discussion I confirm receipt of your letter dated October 30th and to also confirm our discussions, on Friday November 13th, for a meeting to be convened with the Prime Ministers of the region to review the Final Report.
“You advised the Prime Ministers will be out of the region the week of November 26th. Your proposal to now meet in Grenada December 4th or 5th, for preliminary discussions on the Review Panel’s recommendations, cannot be met for the following reason, that subsequent to the release I requested our Board members and Territorial Boards for their positons on the Report to be submitted by December 4th.
“This would allow us to discuss, as a body, our position at our scheduled quarterly Board of Directors Meeting.”
In response to a verbal request from CARICOM for an urgent meeting, Cameron had earlier this month offered December 12 as the date for the controversial report to be discussed.
However, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, the chairman of CARICOM’s Cricket Governance Committee, had disagreed with the proposed date, telling a news conference in Grenada that the date was not “a demonstration of the urgency that we seek.”
But speaking at Cayman Cricket’s Annual Awards Dinner in George Town last Saturday, Cameron reiterated the WICB’s stance it could only meet with CARICOM Heads at its already scheduled Directors meeting.
Writing in the letter to Larocque, the Jamaican extended an invitation to the CARICOM Heads along with the members of the Governance Review Panel.
“The West Indies Cricket Board of Directors meeting is confirmed for December 12th and 13th, to be held in St. Lucia,” Cameron said.
“We are proposing that an invitation be extended to members of the Sub-Committee on Governance or the Review Panel on the Governance of Cricket to attend and engage the Board in discussion.
“The full team of Directors will be on hand to participate in this important matter.”
The Panel, chaired by UWI Cave Hill Campus principal, Professor Eudine Barriteau, has recommended the “immediate dissolution” of the WICB.
