Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar hit some administrators of West Indies cricket for six yesterday, saying they were more interested in looking out for themselves than protecting the game.
And he sent a message that it was not about them but the people of the region.
Although not mentioning the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) or any other group or individual by name, Ramotar delivered stinging shots at those who “seem not to care about the importance of this institution but more about perpetuating themselves at any cost” during his wide-ranging address here at the 33rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.
“I know much has changed over time, including the huge amounts of money involved in the sport. It has fostered self-interest and even greed . . . Governments have invested millions of dollars in building facilities to enhance the game and to promote the growth of the sport.
“However, today we face the abomination – key matches are now being taken out of the region while some of our territories are deliberately deprived,” he said.
“This must be of great concern to us. West Indies cricket is not the private property of some administrators but it is a regional public good.”
Saying that West Indies cricket was a great Caribbean institution and “more than just a game”, Ramotar called for the full implementation of the recommendations of the Patterson Commission.
WICB president Julian Hunte said last year that the majority of those recommendations had been embraced by the board and had either been, or were being, implemented.
Those included commissioning a management audit by a private firm; establishing the basis for implementing a cricket academy at UWI Cave Hill; securing commitment from Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago to set up satellite academies; establishing an umpires elite panel; agreeing a new comprehensive Memorandum of Agreement with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA); fully integrating women’s cricket into the WICB structure, and committing US$4 million (BDS$8 million) from its 2009 budget towards development.
One recommendation, which was not accepted in full, was the proposal for the establishment of a new entity to be renamed and headed by a two-tiered body called Cricket West Indies Council.
This would comprise numerous stakeholders and special interests, while the WICB would be reduced to one director from each territory.
Appealing for an improvement in the administration of cricket, Ramotar said the sport was one of the first truly regional institutions which had fostered the confidence about successful integration.
“It has given us heroes and role models and is perhaps the best emblem we have of our regional identity,” the Guyana leader said.
