ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Pressure continues to mount on Gregory Shillingford to resign, but the Leeward Islands Cricket Association president appeared set to remain in control of the game in the sub-region.
Shillingford, a director of the West Indies Cricket Board, has faced mounting criticism from former players and officials in recent weeks for allowing the game in the Leewards to sink to an all-time low.
He deflected claims that he did not have overwhelming support, following his 8-4 victory over Benjamin Hughes, president of the Anguilla Cricket Association, at the last LICA elections.
“The issue is not who is supporting me,” he said. “The issue is that we had a free and fair election conducted according to our constitution.
“But nobody is expected to get the full support of everybody. It is desirous, but nobody is expected, in any election, not even in our Antigua governmental election. Nobody is expected to sweep all the seats and like one candidate said, ‘It is good to have opposition’.”
One of the most damning charges against Shillingford and the LICA executive has been their failure to organise the annual three-day competition, which is usually a precursor to the WICB’s Regional 4-Day Tournament.
Shillingford, a former chief executive of the WICB, said prohibitive costs have forced the governing body to put that competition on ice.
“The three-day competition, among all the other competitions, has been on our schedule which I circulate to the members of LICA every year,” he said. “I invite them to comment on the schedules and to indicate their participation.
“Most of the members have responded by saying that it is difficult for them to participate in lieu of declining resources to the association, in lieu of the high costs that is involved for participation.
“LICA does not have sufficient sponsorship and I will remind all that sponsorship alone cannot cover all of the costs of participation.”
The Dominica-born Shillingford said he had approached Organization of Eastern Caribbean States’ heads looking for help, but this had not yet materialised.
“Leewards need help and we are engaging the governments to determine how they can come on board, how they can facilitate,” he said.
“Everything we pay for has a government tax in it, whether it is VAT, whether it is hotel tax, whether it is the tax on airfares.
“We are contributing to the governments and we believe that the governments must make a contribution towards cricket so that the region can stand up and be competitive.”
Shillingford also shot down suggestions that he did not agitate for Antigua to stage the third Test between West Indies and Australia, which was moved from Guyana.
He said this was far from the truth and that WICB management officials produced only one option as an alternative venue – and that was Dominica.
“No other options were put up and I would remind all that the schedule for Australia was first discussed by the full board of the WICB at its October meeting last year, and Enoch Lewis (fellow WICB director from Leewards) and myself, we made our best attempt for matches to be in Antigua and St. Kitts,” he said.
“We reminded the meeting that the WICB, by way of priority, owed St. Kitts international matches because the countries who had hosted the World T20, including the women’s tournament by agreement, were promised, as priority, international matches.
“So if a match had to come to the Leewards for the Australian tour, I would like all to know that the first option was St. Kitts, not Antigua.”
Shillingford said he remained committed to the Leewards and had given his all, including organising scholarships for young players to the University of the West Indies.