Over the past few years, calls for the restructuring of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and possibly to rehabilitate the entire culture of West Indies cricket, have been mounting, with several notable Caribbean personalities pointing to the many fundamental problems being experienced, resulting in declining performances of the team in most formats of the game.
In addition to the decline in West Indies cricket, there is enough evidence to show that fans had started to move away from the game. It was only after the carnival-like Caribbean Premier League (CPL) games were introduced to the region that fans started to show a renewed interest in the sport by turning up in their thousands at venues across the Caribbean to be entertained.
The constant spats between players and the board has also been very disappointing. The relationships with the players association, Caricom Governments and the national boards have left much to be desired.
It is no secret that Regional heads have always been critical of the manner in which the Board functions and have wasted no time in expressing their views. Caricom’s opposition to the WICB coincided with the rise of Dave Cameron, who was unanimously re-elected for a third successive term as board president.
Just recently, Dr Keith Rowley, the Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, was quoted in the regional media as saying that cricket in the Caribbean has been “hijacked by a small clique”. He was very blunt in saying that this small clique is “hell bent on destroying Caribbean cricket”.
On his part, Cameron has rejected the Caricom Cricket Review panel’s recommendation to dissolve the WICB. He has noted that the Caricom panel ignored the “sweeping” changes in its governance structure brought in by the WICB since 2002. The WICB had promised that the President and the team will have a new strategic plan, which will facilitate improved performances at the regional and international levels, and explore a more robust governance system. The strategy revolves around the rebranding of Cricket West Indies; the development of a commercial arm – Windies Inc; and the creation of a development foundation to finance cricket development in the region.
However, regional heads have criticised WICB, stating that the Board is seeking to create a diversion from the real question of who owns Caribbean cricket. For CARICOM, cricket is a public product that belongs to the people, and not to the WICB. Hence, unless it is clearly defined as to who owns that asset, the region would get nowhere in terms of addressing the real problems affecting the game.
It should be noted that the Caricom Cricket Review panel, in a report that termed the board’s governance structure as “antiquated,” “obsolete” and “anachronistic”, had recommended that the WICB be dissolved in November 2015.
The panel also recommended that, because of its diffusive character, “the organisational structure for cricket should be sufficiently decentralised to allow the exercise of local initiative, while at the same time providing adequate opportunities for the regionalisation of management where there are evident economies of scale and scope to be realized”.
It had argued that any constitution for West Indies cricket should continue to provide for a management structure, based on a regional entity linked to, and in close interaction with territorial bodies.
We support the long-held view of the various stakeholders; that is, the WICB should give way to a more representative body. One approach could be the creation of a West Indies Cricket Commission, enabling representation of all major interest groups, e.g. territorial boards, players and officials, women, the Caribbean Community, the private sector and civil society.
The administration of West Indies cricket will continue to face severe challenges unless there are certain key reforms undertaken. Caricom and other stakeholders must continue to push for the restructuring of the administration of the game, so that it is sufficiently reflective of the Caribbean public.
