After the fiasco of the West Indies’ performance, or rather lack of, at the 2022 T20 World Cup, one would not be surprised if the New Year’s resolution of cricket fans was to divorce themselves of any emotional attachment whatsoever to the West Indies team in 2023. Rather, they will content themselves with plunking down in front of the television and enjoying the game beamed from anywhere in the world.
Two weeks into the year, mixed signals and reported rumours emanating from various ports in the Caribbean, seem to confirm that West Indies fans have made a wise decision, as the year ahead seems destined to be fraught with confusion, innuendo and the inevitable; more losing.
Last Tuesday, 10th January, Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Chief Executive Officer Johnny Grave made an appearance on the popular weekly Voice of Barbados talk show, Mason and Guest, which serves as a vital source of information on the game for the Caribbean. The CEO made several revelations on the financial state of the game and developmental plans for the region.
According to Grave, “2022 has been a record year in terms of revenue and profits and probably almost $80 million in revenue so a high of $70 million is probably our record revenue, a surplus of north of US$20 million, so in terms of the strength of 2022 is probably a record year for the organisation.
“Our auditors are in at the moment, we will complete our financial audit by the next week or so and that would go through the finance committee and then to our shareholders at the AGM in March.” The CEO also predicted a solid 2023 with the two projected lucrative tours by India and England, and further promises of bigger coffers with England returning in 2024, and the hosting of the T20 World Cup in June 2024.
In terms of development, the CEO declared that each of the six territories will be equipped with a strength and conditioning (S&C) coach in order to further professionalise the system. The S&C coach will work with franchise and international players as well as the under 15s, 17s and 19s. Grave further noted that this was so “because we need stronger, fitter, faster players, we need players to be rehabbed correctly in a professional system because we cannot afford to have the talent we have not be on the field, the talent we have to be lost to career-threatening injuries and this is all part of professionalising the system on and off the field.
“We got to work hard on facilities, we’ve got to work hard on practice facilities in terms of giving players access to better coaches which is why we’ve got our own coaching system and which we’ve got over 1,000 qualified new coaches in the last two years and we’ve got to continue to make the investments.”
We have heard similar grandiose plans and promises before, only to be told later that they weren’t financially viable. Is Grave, who has been at the helm since 2017 during which time our fortunes have not improved, making a sales pitch? Grave’s contract with CWI expires this year, and it has been alleged that it has already been extended, a rumour which has been denied by the CWI.
There have been other mutterings and mumbling around the Caribbean. The previous week on Mason and Guest, Barbados Cricket Association President and CWI Director Conde Riley expressed disappointment that Barbados, the defending champions of the West Indies Championship, will not be hosting any matches for the second year running. The first two rounds are scheduled for Grenada and Antigua in the first two weeks of February, whilst Trinidad will host the final three rounds in the second half of March. The CWI Director’s take on the situation was, “… I realise why Cricket West Indies is where it is… It tells a story – they are not thinking… It is what it is …Where there is no vision people will perish…”
Sir Andy Roberts, the legendary Antiguan fast bowler, in an interview with the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper in the first week of the year, asserted that the players more than the coaches have to take responsibility for the West Indies failures on the field of play. The former West Indies selector contended that coaching has been made the scapegoat for the poor performances and attention has not been paid to what really matters. His comments came as the Caribbean awaits the appointment of the new Head Coach following Phil Simmons’ resignation after the T20 World Cup disaster.
Just prior to the launch of the North – South Cricket Classic on the 5th January, at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) President Azim Bassarath lashed out at the vocal critics of the governing body.
“The critics would have you believe that they are successful coaches, analysts, commentators and administrators but are unable to point to success at any level, not counting, of course, their spread of misinformation, mischief, and confusion,” Bassarath declared, before going on to defend the TTCB by observing that the “armchair critics” do not see “the recent emergence of Joshua Da Silva, Jayden Seales, and Jeremy Solozano who are successful products of the TTCB development system.” Bacchanal, wherever you turn in the Caribbean when the topic is cricket.
Last November, CWI announced that it had commissioned a three-member panel to conduct a comprehensive review of the West Indies’ humiliating group stage exit from the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The committee was chaired by Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court judge Patrick Thompson and included West Indies legend Brian Lara and South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur. The mandate of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Review Group was to undertake a holistic assessment of all aspects of the team’s preparation and performance at the global tournament. The CWI media release did not include a time frame but noted that the independent professionals assigned to the task will submit a report to the CWI Board of Directors, with recommendations.
As the region anxiously awaits the panel’s findings and proposals, it has been reported that CWI President Ricky Skerritt will not be seeking re-election at the March AGM. Skerritt swept into office four years ago on a tidal wave of goodwill along with a ten-point agenda to revive West Indies cricket at all levels across the region and bring its management structure on par with the top ranked cricket playing nations. One is tempted to swiftly condemn his term in office as a colossal failure, but closer scrutiny is required.
One of Skerritt’s first initiatives was to commission the Wehby Report to look into the management structure of CWI. It was the fifth such governance review of the board’s operation in 17 years. The 36-page Wehby Report recommended that the CWI undertake comprehensive reform and reduce the size of its board whilst calling for greater background in gender and skill set composition. Among numerous other suggestions, it proposed a reduction in the number of committees from 12 to five. These sentiments were mere echoes of the Patterson and Wilkin proposals which the fans had heard several times over the years.
Skerritt, at the presentation of his ‘Next Steps’ paper, had stated, “There will be … likely political head-winds ahead, but I assure all stakeholders and lovers of West Indies Cricket that I will personally champion the important process of CWI Governance Reform, no matter how long it takes…” It’s a Catch-22 situation. For governance reform to come about the current members of the board will have to cede their positions for the new structure, a very unlikely scenario.
Instead of condemning Skerritt’s efforts at the wheel we should empathise with him. Does Skerritt now view the CWI as just a house of cards where all the aces and kings have been replaced with jokers, and any attempt to modernise this archaic dinosaur would be emulating Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill for eternity? If he has found it to be an exercise in futility, perhaps Skerritt is just throwing in the towel and leaving the jokers to rule the roost.
