ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – A dramatic no-show by Barbados Cricket Association and Guyana Cricket Board representatives has forced Cricket West Indies to postpone its presidential elections until next month.
In a farcical turn of events yesterday, only eight representatives – two each from the Jamaica Cricket Association, Leeward Islands Cricket Board, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the Windward Islands Cricket Board – were present for the 10 a.m start of the virtual Annual General Meeting, falling short of the nine required for a quorum.
CWI said attempts were made to reach the representatives from both the BCA and GCB and when those proved unsuccessful, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 am.
“The meeting therefore could not proceed to business as the CWI Articles of Association stipulate that nine (9) representatives of the Full Members need to be present in person to constitute a quorum,” CWI said in a release later yesterday.
“Despite having previously authorized their representatives to attend, when the roll was called there were no representatives present from the Guyana Cricket Board nor the Barbados Cricket Association.
“The Articles of Association provide that if there is no quorum within thirty minutes from the time appointed for the meeting, it shall stand adjourned to the next business day or to such other time and place as the Board of Directors may determine, and at the adjourned meeting no other business may be transacted.”
Following an emergency board meeting subsequently held at midday, CWI directors took the decision to hold the postponed AGM on April 11.
In providing a timeline of the lead up to the AGM, CWI said “instruments of Appointment to Attend” were received from all members on March 19, with all full members again confirming their attendance on Saturday, just 24 hours before the scheduled meeting.
The highlight of the AGM was the highly anticipated showdown for the presidency, with incumbent president, Ricky Skerritt, facing a challenge from GCB secretary, Anand Sanasie, and vice-president Dr Kishore Shallow up against the BCA’s Calvin Hope.
And with the no-show by the BCA and GCB and the subsequent AGM postponement, more fuel is likely to be added to an election campaign that had lacked real intensity.
Sanasie and Hope had argued in recent weeks that West Indies cricket was headed in the wrong direction, launching their “Operation Rescue” manifesto containing a suite of proposals aimed at restoring “excellence, soundness, confidence, unity and enthusiasm.”
And speaking ahead of yesterday’s anticipated elections, Sanasie said he was confident of being elected president.
“I am [confident], and if I didn’t see that [winning] pathway I would have not have been in the race,” he was quoted as saying.
In an interview last week, Shallow said he and Skerritt were looking forward to the elections, and expected they would receive the support of the majority of territorial boards.
“I would say 8-4 but there is a possibility it could be 9-3 as well,” Shallow said in reference to the anticipated margin of victory.
Skerritt and Shallow took over the reins of CWI in 2019 when they defeated three-term incumbents Dave Cameron and Emmanuel Nanthan.