GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC-Two former officials of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are appealing to CARICOM governments to deny the WICB access to its cricket grounds for hosting regional and international matches.
Former chairman of the board’s governance committee, Charles Wilkin, and Imran Khan, a former communications director, say refusing WICB access to regional cricket grounds would force the board into accepting proposals for reform.
Their call comes in light of a report calling for sweeping changes to the WICB from a CARICOM Governance Review Panel.
“The real leverage which CARICOM has, if it seriously wants to force the WICB to change, is the control of most of the stadia used for international matches,” Wilkins said in an ESPN Cricinfo interview.
“The WICB will not be able to host touring teams if the CARICOM governments refuse permission for use of the stadia and the various other permits required under local law.”
The main recommendation of the CARICOM governance report called for the “immediate dissolution” of the WICB and the appointment of an interim board.
The WICB has rejected the proposals for reform saying they are “unnecessary and intrusive demand”. Khan believes CARICOM’s refusal to give the WICB access to certain grounds could force change.
“Two things need to happen: mass fan boycott, and CARICOM governments refusing the WICB access to grounds which they own or control or have influence over,” Khan said.
“CARICOM can no longer delay taking decisive action to rescue the regional game from the cauldron of incompetence from which it boils.
To not act is to contribute to the further deterioration of the regional game and to be complicit in its inevitable demise.”
