PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-Three former presidents of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have condemned the decision by the Dave Cameron led WICB to ignore a request for an urgent meeting with Caricom leaders.
Sir Wes Hall, Patrick Rousseau and Ken Gordon have also blasted Cameron’s response to the Prime Ministers’ request as “pointedly discourteous”.
Last month, Chairman of CARICOM’s Cricket Governance Committee, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell called for an urgent meeting with WICB to discuss the latest independent report which demanded a dissolution of the board.
However the embattled WICB president has been insisting that the Board of Directors first needed to go over the controversial report before any meeting with CARICOM could be held.
“The President of the WICB, Mr. Cameron has responded that such discussion can await the next scheduled meeting of the WICB on December 12th, a pointedly discourteous response to CARICOM leaders who have been supportive of the WICB in so many ways,” said the joint statement from the three former WICB presidents.
“You and your Board have erred very badly, President Cameron, and we publicly call on you to reflect on the unfortunate implications of your response to CARICOM leaders”.
The latest report on WICB was compiled by a Cricket Review Panel, which was chaired by UWI Cave Hill Campus principal, Professor Eudine Barriteau.
Apart from the dissolution of the WICB, it also recommended the resignation of the current board and the appointment of an interim board.
Also, the panel recommended that a change management expert be installed to help run the affairs of cricket in the region until a new governance structure is implemented.
Hall, Rousseau and Gordon say Prime Minister Mitchell’s request for an early meeting with WICB is reasonable.
“You carry an important trust as President of the WICB. But no individual or transient Board can be bigger than the game and the shaping of its future,” they argued.
“Prime Minister Mitchell’s request for an early meeting is eminently reasonable and necessary. We urge that you accede to it so that the consultative process may continue”.
The former presidents also pointed out that the “widespread demand for transparency and accountability coupled with the obvious deterioration in the performance and governance of West Indies cricket” have led to the appointment of 3 independently structured committees over the past eight years.
They were referring to the Patterson report, Wilkin report and the Barriteau report, which was published two weeks ago.
“The Patterson and Wilkin recommendations have been treated with scant courtesy and virtually ignored by WICB which appointed them,” the former presidents noted.
“It is also significant that the 3 reports were unanimous in the view that the structure of the WICB must change following the resignation of current Directors”.
