KINGSTON: Cricket West Indies (CWI) is all set for massive changes as Ricky Skerritt was elected the new board president, ending David Cameron’s six-year tenure at the helm of Caribbean cricket.
The 62-year-old Skerritt is a former St Kitts and Nevis senator and has had some experience in international cricket administration as well, being the West Indies team manager back in 2000. For this election, he found the support from former legends such as Clive Lloyd and Sir Vivian Richards amongst those who have also administered the game.
Skerritt commented following his victory: “I am humbled and deeply honoured to be elected as President. We pledge to work for improvement on and off the field for West Indies Cricket.”
Ironically, Cameron was defeated by Skeritt by a 4-8 margin on his home turf in Jamaica after he shifted the venue of the CWI AGM specifically for gaining the upper hand in the elections, which was to be conducted via a secret ballot.
By the same margin, Emmanuel Nanthan, Cameron’s deputy was defeated by the 35-year-old Kishore Shallow, an entrepreneur who has now been promoted to the position of vice-president in the CWI from director.
Each of the six nations in the Caribbean, namely Jamaica, Barbados, Windward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands and Guyana had two votes each, cast by representatives nominated by each of the territorial boards.
On 21 February, Skerritt publicly declared that he will be challenging Cameron, who was set to enter his fourth two-year-term of presidency. The decision was motivated mainly to scupper Cameron’s plan to ‘implement sweeping changes to the democratic process of decision-making’ in Caribbean cricket, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Skerritt and Cameron have clashed in the last month on numerous occasions, with the latter also pointing out his failures in the past.
“His desire to lead CWI as a full-time executive, is not reflective of the West Indies cricket ethos,” Skerritt and Shallow had written in an email to all the territorial boards prior to the election to launch their campaign.
“By advancing his plans for an autocratic leadership structure, which marginalises the role of commercially recruited executives, the incumbent has placed his personal thinking diametrically opposed to the values of West Indies cricket.”
In their manifesto called ‘Cricket First Plan’, the duo have pledged ten major sets of changes which will take place under his leadership such as proposing the capping of the tenure of CWI presidency to a maximum of six years, local grassroots cricket, coaching pathways, relationships with territorial governing bodies and more use of science, technology and innovation to develop skill and character of players.
“I am convinced that a presidential term limit will remove much of the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the cricket politics and excesses that too often surround the office of president,” Shallow was quoted as saying in February by local Caribbean publications.
The development marks the end of Cameron’s run, which has been a controversial one. West Indies’ World T20 2016 winning captain Darren Sammy had famously criticised him over poor administration and treatment in a publicly passionate statement after the team’s win in the final against England In Kolkata.
Cameron is also said to have caused a major rift between the board and the West Indies’ ‘T20 mercenaries’ such as Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, most of whom haven’t featured in the national team on a regular basis due to the CWI’s rule of players requiring to giving preference to domestic ODI competitions rather than T20 leagues across the world.
Infamously, it was in India in late 2014 when the Bravo-led West Indies ODI team returned home in the middle of a series against the home side due to players deciding to go on strike for not being paid their dues since months.
The CWI is also set to lose more than $400,000 in an ongoing legal case which was filed by the team’s former coach, Phil Simmons, who was sacked unceremoniously last year and replaced by Richard Pybus.
