KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said yesterday it would revisit the findings of the Lucky, Patterson and Wilkin Reports to re-assess their relevance, but has once again dismissed the recent CARICOM-commissioned Governance Review Panel recommendation which has called for the “immediate dissolution” of the entire board.
In a move likely to worsen tensions between the WICB and CARICOM, the WICB Board of Directors at Saturday’s annual general meeting here once again emphasized their stringent opposition to the Panel’s main recommendation, with all six member boards signing a statement of opposition to any attempted implementation.
Last December, the Board of Directors slammed the recommendation to dissolve (the WICB) as “impractical” and an “unnecessary and intrusive demand”, and said yesterday they were standing behind that position.
The statement of opposition to the CARICOM Governance Review Panel recommendations, which was signed by WICB Board of Directors.
“We the full members of the West Indies Cricket Board do hereby respectfully disagree with the call for the dissolution of the board, and we stand by the ‘position paper of the West Indies Cricket Board’ in response to the recommendations of the CARICOM Review Panel on Cricket Governance, which was issued on the 23rd day of December, 2015,” said the signed statement, a copy of which was issued by the WICB.
“We have all read the response and fully support the position enunciated therein. We look forward to the implementation of the various proposals put forward by the WICB as the way forward for cricket and cricket administration in the region.”
The WICB’s move comes just weeks after CARICOM prime ministers firmly
endorsed the Panel’s recommendations at their 27th Intersessional meeting in Belize, and “affirmed that they must be implemented.”
Further, CARICOM said it would “explore all options available to achieve the desired outcome of improved governance of West Indies cricket.”
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell said then that the WICB did not have the final say on whether the report’s recommendations would be implemented.
“The fact that we have said that we will use all options to ensure that the report is implemented, the West Indies Cricket Board can say it is dead but they may not have the wherewithal to ensure that it is dead,” Mitchell said.
While ignoring the Governance Review Report, WICB president Dave Cameron announced yesterday that a team would now be set up to look at recommendations from the Lucky, Patterson and Wilkin Reports, which were yet to be implemented.
The WICB has been criticized heavily in the past for ignoring the major recommendations of these reports, relating to the restructuring of its governance structure.
“The terms of reference of this team, will focus primarily on the recommendations that have not been implemented and for the team to examine if there is an opportunity to bring anything back to the Territorial Boards and the WICB for adoption by the shareholders,” Cameron said.
He added: “Once that process is complete, a change management expert will be brought in to complete the process for a smooth transition.”
The team will be headed by WICB independent director, Don Wehby, and will include Clifford Reis and Ricky Skerritt, along with three other members which are yet to be appointed.
The Governance Review Panel was headed by UWI Cave Hill Campus Principal, Professor Eudine Barriteau and also comprised 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.
However, the WICB has criticised the panel’s investigations as “limited in scope” and said this had “triggered findings and recommendations … which are not supported by the facts.”
