The CARICOM said it would create another prime ministerial sub-committee that will have greater say on cricket in the Caribbean islands. A review panel set up by the CARICOM made the recommendations to dissolve the WICB in November 2016. The report also termed the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) governance structure as “antiquated”, “obsolete” and “anachronistic”.
After the end of a meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government conference, Grenada prime minister Keith Mitchell said to the Jamaica Gleaner, “We will do everything possible to effect the decision.”
The regional body also didn’t support the remarks of Gaston Browne, the Antigua, and Barbuda prime minister, who had rejected the idea of dissolving the WICB.
Mitchell, who is the outgoing chief of the CARICOM sub-committee head on cricket that had backed the panel’s findings last year, said all members of the sub-committee think the current governance system of the WICB should be changed, so Browne’s opposition doesn’t has worth.
Mitchell also quoted as saying, “it is a common position of the Heads, not individual positions, and we cannot operate on the basis of individual positions, it’s about the Heads,”.
“When I expressed my sentiments on cricket, it was about what the Heads said – the committee that we established jointly with the West Indies Cricket Board – and we agreed between the subcommittee and the West Indies Cricket Board to implement the recommendations.
“So it was not a Keith Mitchell decision, it was not a Keith Mitchell activity, it was a committee set up by the West Indies Cricket Board and the Heads of Government.”
The CARICOM sub-committee was appointed by the Prime Ministerial Committee to monitor the Governance of West Indies Cricket in the wake of the crisis that engulfed the board after the BCCI snapped the bilateral series as West Indies team under the captaincy of Dwayne Bravo refused to play the Dharamsala ODI as they protested against the wage issue in 2014. BCCI had to cope with the loss, so Indian board slapped $41.97 million in damages.
A five-member committee was set up to review the governance and administrative structure of the WICB. The committee was comprised of V Eudine Barriteau, Sir Dennis Byron, Dwain Gill, Deryck Murray and Warren Smith submitted a report.
The committee recommended the current WICB to be abolished and a new board should replace it. However, Dave Cameron, the WICB president, rejected the panel’s findings saying they were not supported by facts.
However, Browne didn’t move from his remark as he supported the WICB. He said the Jamaican Gleaner, “That (recommendation to dissolve) is a recipe for chaos and confusion and we are totally opposed to any forced dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board.”
On the other hand, the CARICOM heads have refused to give up their stance on WICB. According to the Dominica prime minister and chairman of CARICOM an additional sub-committee on cricket with the much wider right will be appointed soon. “There were two before; one on governance issues and one of the larger issues confronting cricket…this is a new committee on cricket mandated to examine all matters relating to the development of cricket, which is a very wide area of concentration.”