West Indies cricket continues at pace on a path to implosion. The WICB Board latest statement reads as follows – WICB STATEMENT FOLLOWING SEVEN HOUR MEETING. The decision by the WICB to go the route of a press statement in lieu of a press conference is indicative of the ‘peer down the nose’ approach to dealing with its publics through the years. Coincidentally, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) elected to do the same; communicate its mismanagement of the recruitment of a fraud as CEO of the BCA – see The Sagicor Thieves and the BCA Fraudster – Ruel Ward and Jefferson Miller Create a WTF Moment. In both cases the two bodies probably acted under the best advice of a public relations company and not the public.
Frankly it is boring listening to leading regional cricket commentators spouting ignorance by playing the blame game for the recent muck up in West Indies cricket. It was inevitable that a dysfunctional management and operating structure would have led the region to where it finds itself currently as it contemplates whither West Indies cricket.
Instead of focussing on who did and should have done what, BU has to accept that the abandonment of the tour of India confirms a continuing the lack of leadership in the entity formerly known as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICBC). An entity which lacks the capacity to resolve issues that require critical thinking. A routine requirement by any successful organization.
If the reaction by the Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) to suspend tours to the West Indies does not signal to the hierarchy of the WICB (and regional governments) it must change to become more relevant, we will continue on a path to self destruction, if we are not there already. The best recommendation we have is for the WICB to cede control of managing cricket to a group not to exceed eight persons. Prerequisite skill set of the group must include management, legal, cricket, financial, entrepreneurial at the core. The group will also be briefed to manage cricket until a new structure is agreed and implemented. It should be obvious the WICB lacks the capacity to engender confidence in stakeholders at this time, in addition, a system of meritocracy dictates every man jack on the Board should make their resignations available to the management group.
Dave Cameron and his ban of incompetents need to be reminded taxpayers have a vested interest in the affairs of the running of the regional sport – not just because of the historical significance of what the game means for the region but as recent as 2007 several small and impoverish cricket loving states had to bankroll Cricket World Cup 2007 (CWC2007).
The actors involved should ruminate about the Vision, Mission and Value positions of the WICB. In a perfect world ONE common set of goals should be influencing how all decisions are being made by WICB stakeholders. It is be evident to all that WIPA, WICB and the international players are not aligned.
The people of the Caribbean deserve better!
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