PORT OF SPAIN – West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director Azim Bassarath believes the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to host its annual conference in the Caribbean is a sign the world governing body still retains confidence in the WICB.
Bassarath’s comments come in the wake of the controversial abandoned tour of India whose cricket board placed full blame on the WICB for the upheaval.
“This decision to come to the Caribbean for the annual meeting was taken after the issues we had with the Board of Control for Cricket in India,” the Trinidadian told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.
“It represented to me that the ICC still had faith in us as a major cricketing nation and they wanted to show that by coming here.”
The ICC announced recently that the conference would be staged in Barbados from June 22-26 with over 50 delegates from cricket-playing nations expected to attend.
Bassarath said the ICC decision resulted from positive discussions initiated by WICB president Dave Cameron.
“These meetings shape the future of the game and we will be having it here for the first time which speaks volumes,” said Bassarath.
“Our president Dave Cameron went across to Dubai for the last meeting and was able to make a successful approach to have the meeting here, as well as the Under-19 World Cup which will also come to the Caribbean.”
Bassarath formed an alliance with Barbados Cricket Association president Joel Garner in an attempt to unseat Cameron and vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan at elections held earlier this month in Jamaica.
Bassarath lost the vice-presidential race 8-4, with Garner going down to Cameron on a similar count. However, Bassarath said that with the elections now over, the WICB would move forward as a united body. (CMC)
