Last Thursday and Friday, the Caricom Regional Cricket Conference was held at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The initiative, hosted by the Caricom Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket, under the theme of “Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket”, examined the sad state of affairs of West Indies Cricket, and was attended by a number Caribbean dignitaries and important figures of West Indies cricket, both past and present.
The catalyst for this gathering was undoubtedly Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley, current Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Cricket, who has a genuine interest in seeing the revival of the game in the region. He has had a long running battle of words with the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Board over their stubborn refusal to effect fundamental changes to the governance of the game and the resolution of the issue of ownership of West Indies cricket. In mid-April 2017, during a television interview, a frustrated Prime Minister Rowley waded into the (then) Dave Cameron led-CWI, “Caribbean cricket has been hijacked by a small clique of people who are hell bent on destroying Caribbean cricket, and my position [is], unless the question is answered as to who owns that asset, we’re spinning top in mud.”
The many speakers at last week’s event included Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, and several past West Indies players, including, Sir Clive Lloyd, Sir Wes Hall, Mike Findlay, Deryck Murray, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Brian Lara. As can one imagine there was plenty of talking. There were presentations and panel discussions, question and answer sessions. Lots of talk for more than 12 hours. This column is not the forum to review a conference of such magnitude and can only draw attention to a couple of salient points presented. (For those who are interested and have time to spare, the entire conference is online.)
Prime Minister Rowley, in his opening remarks, acknowledged the region’s inherent problem of insularity and its off-the-field influence on the game, especially with regard to the inability to arrive at consensuses. He lamented the apparent dying state of cricket in the region, and akin to a drowning man clutching at a straw, pleaded with those in attendance to provide possible answers to the numerous problems plaguing West Indies cricket. The Chairman stated, “We need to own up. We need to stand up. All is not lost.”
It was the commencement of a succession of lamentations. There was the rehashing of the old themes spawned by the inefficiency of regional administration; the absence of structured cricket programmes in primary and secondary schools across the Caribbean; the lack of mentorship of young cricketers; the failure to tap into the experiences and knowledge of former Test cricketers; the lack of resources and facilities; and the falling standards in club cricket.
Among other concerns raised, was the issue of the potential threat posed by the increasing popularity of cricket in the USA, a point raised by President Ali. Of more immediate and alarming concern was Prime Minister Mottley asking to see a copy of the contract which CWI allegedly signed with the CPL for 50 years. The Caricom governments have called for the renegotiation of this lopsided contract. How come no one in that large assembly demanded a commission of inquiry into this travesty? Who were the parties that signed this agreement? Who in their right mind voluntarily signs away their grandchildren’s birthrights?
It was a good idea to stage this forum to discuss all these shortcomings with the game in the region, but for all the talking the conference failed to tackle head on the real elephant in the room; the governance aspect of West Indies cricket. The history of the outright rejection of the Patterson Report (October 2007) by the West Indies Board is well documented, as is the similar hostile reception which was extended to those proposals that followed; the Charles Wilkin Report (2012), the Barriteau Report (November 2015) and the Wehby Report (August 2020). It was left to a very emotional Michael Holding to plead with the governments of the Caribbean to pressure the CWI to change its governance of the game. As the former fast bowler noted on Thursday, “We are just moving from one administration to another under the same system. The same lack of transparency.”
The current CWI President Dr Kishore Shallow, who was elected to the post in March last year, has suggested a meeting with the Caricom Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket and the Presidents of the various territorial boards as soon as possible with the aim of addressing governance reform. “We have to embrace everything that persons have said at this forum and adapt these changes swiftly and hold each other accountable,” Dr Shallow stated. Dr Shallow will quickly discover that the subject of governance reform – the dissolution of the current board and the creation of a professionally managed organisation – is verboten on the agenda at the CWI. His fellow directors, like their predecessors, are not prepared under any circumstances to surrender their positions of power. Ricky Skerritt, the previous CWI president, banged his head against a stonewall to no avail whilst trying to get the taboo proposals from the Wehby Report passed.
Whilst one despises being the bearer of bad news, the optimistic PM Rowley and Dr Shallow, will soon learn that there is no prescription for the ingrained problem of insularity, which will raise its ugly head once again, and prevent the CWI Board from agreeing to a consensus on governance reform. Back to square one. More talking to follow.
