BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Ricky Skerritt has hit back at comments made by Cricket West Indies president, Dave Cameron, cautioning the regional governing body’s lead administrator not to make the issue of “turmoil” central to the election campaign.
Skerritt, a former tourism and sports minister here, is challenging Cameron for the CWI presidency at elections scheduled for March 24 in Jamaica.
In a radio interview during the second One-Day International against England in Barbados last week, Cameron said while Skerritt had “done a lot as minister in St Kitts”, what he was best remembered for was his period as West Indies team manager and “the turmoil that occurred during those years.
“If Cameron wants to talk about turmoil, perhaps he can explain why former head coaches, Otis Gibson, Phil Simmons, and the several others who Cameron hastily and summarily dismissed, from both the men’s and women’s teams, have collectively cost CWI well over US$1million,” Skerritt said in a statement yesterday.
Pointing to the abandoned tour of India in 2014 and the perceived blacklisting of two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Darren Sammy after he was publicly critical of Cameron, Skerritt said both situations had been “stimulated and mismanaged directly by Cameron’s insensitivity and stubbornness”.
“These tumultuous instances have caused significant damage to the CWI reputation, commercial health, and team performance. Cameron really should not allow the subject of ‘turmoil’ to become the feature of this campaign,” Skerritt warned.
As far as his tenure as Windies manager was concerned, Skerritt said it was a period of relative success, unlike the present era of West Indies cricket.
“While I was team manager there was zero industrial unrest by players. We were proud ambassadors for West Indies cricket globally. This period was a time when we were still winning more matches than we lost and players were still respected by the CWI leadership,” Skerritt said.
“Instead of making such unfounded and petty attacks on me I recommend that Mr. Cameron hold audience with former players and ask about their experiences and existing relationships with me.”
Skerritt, along with vice-presidential running mate, Dr Kishore Shallow, is bidding to prevent Cameron from winning a fourth consecutive term as CWI president.
The pair have already gained the support of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, but need at least seven of the 12 votes up for grabs to wrest power from Cameron.
Each association has two votes.
