West Indies cricket has been thrown into further disarray by the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) to stay away from the annual general meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in Antigua today and tomorrow.
A WICB director, who asked for anonymity, confirmed yesterday that the
TTCCB had written to the WICB notifying it of its decision and giving reasons for it.
It coincides with the latest in the long-running dispute over contracts between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) that led to the withdrawal of the leading players from the recent series against Bangladesh and that is now before former Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Shridath Ramphal for mediation.
As one of the six constituent members of the WICB – along with Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands – the TTCCB has two directors on the executive and two representatives on the board.
It is understood that among its grievances is the WICB’s failure to act on the main recommendations of the report into its governance by a committee headed by former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J.Patterson including Ian Mc Donald and Sir Alister Mc Intyre.
The report, commissioned by the WICB under former president Ken Gordon and presented in 2006, proposed the complete restructuring of the board that is now made up of president, vice-president, two directors from each of the territorial members and three ex-officio directors.
Efforts to contact TTCB officials yesterday were futile but chief executive Forbes Persaud recently hinted at his own and members’ frustrations.
“My personal view [is] if the trend continues with the manner in which West Indies cricket is being administered, the board (TTCB) should go on its own and compete as Trinidad and Tobago, just as is in football,” Persaud told a Trinidad newspaper.
“If something is not done to have cricket administration at the West Indies level properly restructured, I believe we will have no choice but to think about playing as an individual territory on the international scene,” he added.
He said that “because of the present situation…people are becoming very disenchanted”.
It is understood that the TTCB letter emphasised that it had no intention of quitting the WICB or intending to go on its own. It simply stated its frustrations at not being able to influence changes within the organisation.
It would have been further aggravated by the announcement that president Julian Hunte and vice-president Dave Cameron are to both be returned to their positions unopposed.
It was earlier stated that TTCB president Deryck Murray, the former West Indies vice-captain, would challenge Hunte and that Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president Joel Garner would go against Cameron. But both eventually declined nomination.
Hunte, a 69-year-old St.Lucian insurance company executive and retired politician, has served on the board, on and off, since 1973. He took over as president from Gordon in 2007 since when the WICB has been bedevilled by one controversy after another, culminating in the latest that left the West Indies with a decimated team that lost both Tests and all three one-day internationals against Bangladesh.
The TTCB is also locked in a similar contracts dispute with the WIPA for a squad of 33 in preparation for the Trinidad and Tobago team’s participation in the Champions League in India in October that features winning teams from domestic Twenty20 competitions.
It is not the first time the TTCB has been at odds with the WICB.
In 1994, it issued a statement in which it “expressed its grave concern over what is perceived to be an organised and calculated plot by a privileged few to deny Trinidad and Tobago and its cricketers their just due”.
It stated that its representatives on the West Indies board were mandated “to be more aggressive in their marketing of Trinidad and Tobago’s cricket and the protection of players”.
