WICB never committed to change structure

WICB never committed to change structure

Vinode Mamchan
Published: Guardian
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Confusion seems to be the order of the day yet again in West Indies cricket, as a top official of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is saying that the sentiments expressed by the CARICOM cricket review committee set up to deal with the governance of the WICB, is being less than honest in their remarks since the report was made public.

Calling the governance structure of the WICB “antiquated”, “obsolete” and “anachronistic”, the CARICOM cricket review panel has recommended the WICB be dissolved and all current members resign. It has also recommended that the WICB be replaced by an interim board, which will work with a change management expert to install a new governance framework.

Set up to review the governance and administrative structure of the WICB, the panel interviewed various stakeholders including the management of the board, renowned former West Indies players, current players, territorial boards and a host of other key personalities attached to the game in the region. Based on its findings, the panel concluded that the WICB’s governance model had failed to evolve and that it did not prioritise accountability and transparency.

According to the official: “They mentioned that the WICB agreed at the fact finding meeting we held in April, to adopt their findings because we were part of the process that involved putting together the committee. This is far from the truth and it is very disappointing that these untruths would come from people of such high integrity.”

The official continued: “None of the 14 of us at that meeting on the day ever said anything about adopting this report in a wholesale manner. What was said at the point in time by the president of the WICB, Dave Cameron was that we would accept the report when it is finished and then we would look at it, call a meeting a review the findings and take it from there.

“We never said that we were going to just take this and run and this is very unfortunate, as the committee seems bent on backing us into a corner, but rest assured that would not happen. The WICB will meet on December 12 in St Lucia and then we will have a look at the report.

“Also there have been calls from some quarters to have the meeting at an earlier time and I am hearing that CARICOM will be pushing for that meeting to be earlier. We have our ordinary board meeting on December 12 and this gives the members ample time to look at the report, so they could have meaningful dialogue when the meeting is held.”

stop with these reports nothing will change