BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A shake-up in the leadership of one of West Indies cricket’s most influential territorial boards appears to be in the making.
No nominees were received for the post of president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) by the deadline for submission of nominations on July 26.
It is the first time since the BCA amended its rules 20 years ago and established a special meeting of members to elect directors that there have been no nominations for the post.
Under the rules, nominations for the post can be taken at the special meeting this coming Monday at Kensington Oval, and it is expected that incumbent president and outspoken Cricket West Indies (CWI) director Conde Riley will once again step forward.
Riley, 70, has held the post since he swept to power six years ago, replacing former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner, and he has turned back challengers on two of the three occasions he has faced elections.
He beat two other challengers – former CWI director Deighton Smith, and former Barbados wicketkeeper and retired director of the National Sports Council Erskine King – on the first occasion, fought off Garner for the position on the second occasion four years ago, and went unchallenged two years ago.
If Riley fails to step forward, it appears there are others waiting “in the slips” to take on the role, including secretary and government senator, Gregory Nicholls.
He appeared likely to be nominated at the special meeting after he wrote members yesterday asking “for your vote of confidence”.
Reports indicate that vice-president and former CWI director Calvin Hope also has an interest in taking the most visible job in Barbadian sport.
Hope, a former tourism marketing officer turned attorney-at-law, rose to the post of vice-president when Riley took over the BCA, and he previously unsuccessfully challenged Garner for the position.
Nicholls, an attorney-at-law, is in second stint as secretary, having held the post for six years from 2007, and from 2017 to now, and he has already been nominated unopposed to retain his post of secretary.
If he is elected president, it is likely a vote to replace him will be triggered at the special meeting of members.
Nicholls said in his memo to members that cricket in Barbados needed “to recalibrate” and the time had come in the life of the association “when change can no longer be resisted”.
“The BCA is now at this critical juncture,” he stated in the memo. “We can choose either to ignore the truth and continue on the current path for two more years, or we can recalibrate our focus and embrace the value proposition that the modern game of cricket presents.
“I have previously said to you that there is a correlation between high quality performances on the field of play and the governance in the boardroom. The world of cricket has changed in a dramatic fashion since the BCA embraced the cricket development plan conceptualised … in 2006.”
He added: “Our centre of excellence is far too outdated, too low-tech, and too ill-equipped for our young cricketers to have any special advantage as they go forward.
“Too much of the budget is spent on food, not critical areas like sports science, not data analytics, not strength and conditioning, and not high performance training. These things can no longer be dismissed as ‘talking nonsense’.”
At the same time, five others are seeking to fill three slots of elected directors. They are former West Indies Women’s manager Pat Greenidge, 2019 Chevening scholarship awardee and management specialist Kamal Springer, and automobile dealer Andrew Lythcott; as well as incumbents, Winston Stafford and Hendy Wallace.