West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) directors rejected a proposal at their January 10 meeting in Antigua for a president or vice-president, defeated in an election, to extend his stay in office until the end of the relevant financial year, according to usually dependable sources.
In a document, reportedly submitted by incumbent president Dave Cameron, he directors had been asked to approve what was termed an “induction phase”. The matter was first discussed at their December 13 meeting in Port-of-Spain and again at the subsequent Antigua meeting.
Its purpose was “to allow for a proper induction period and an introduction to the related structures of the WICB, such as the ICC (International Cricket Council)” for an incoming president or vice-president.
“When an elected officer of the Board loses his/her election bid, that person is required to demit office almost instantaneously. That creates a steep learning curve for the individuals assuming the reins of power,” the document asserted.
It regarded the change as “an attempt to bridge that gap”.
It explained that a defeated president or vice-president would remain in office until the end of the financial year “under the understanding that an extensive hand over process would be undertaken in the subsequent months of that person’s defeat at the polls.”
Explaining the reason for the change, the document maintained that an immediate transfer “creates a steep learning curve for the individuals assuming the reins of power”. The new arrangement is “an attempt to bridge that gap”.
It is, it added, “a first step in a succession plan” under which there would be an “extensive handover process” from the defeated official to his successor in the subsequent months leading up to the end of the financial year.
Cameron, the 43-year-old Jamaican financier, became president on March 27, 2013, after delegates voted 7-5 in his favour over Julian Hunte to whom he had been vice-president for six years. At the same time, Emmanuel Nanthan of Dominica defeated Joel Garner 8-4 for the vice-president.
Cameron has confirmed that he will seek re-election at the March 7 annual general meeting. Nominations for the post close February 5; so far there have been no others.
To have been accepted, the proposal for change needed to be supported by the directors as well as the six WICB shareholders – the Barbados Cricket Association, the Guyana Cricket Board, the Jamaica Cricket Association, the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and Windward Islands Cricket. This is no longer necessary.
