West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will meet with the Caricom cricket committee today in Grenada to discuss among other things, governance in West Indies cricket and the crisis with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The much anticipated meeting is being called something of a “fact-finding” affair by WICB director Baldath Mahabir. “We have two regional bodies meeting on Monday and at this time we don’t know what to expect, what will come out of this meeting, so to me it is more of a fact-finding exercise more than anything else.”
Mahabir, who is one of two directors from this country on the WICB, the other one being president of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath, left last night for Grenada, where he will join the other directors from across the region at the meeting.
He said that as both parties sit to discuss a way forward, they must do so with mutual respect. “We need to have mutual respect. What is needed is dialogue. We need to have continuous conversations and this is the only way that Caricom can assist West Indies cricket.
“Caricom can be an advisory body to the WICB but they cannot get involved in the running of cricket in the region. They have to respect the fact that the WICB runs cricket and they must not interfere. The WICB, on the other hand, must not get involved in regional politics where they can cause problems for different governments under Caricom.”
There is expected to be some level of discomfort as the meeting begins because St Vincent’s Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonzalves who would represent Caricom at the meeting had called for the resignation of president of the WICB, Dave Cameron, after the Indian fiasco. When Cameron did not follow his advice, Gonzales called on the regional cricket directors not to vote for him at the last AGM of the WICB.
Cameron defeated Barbadian Joel Garner 8-4 in that vote and is still at the helm of the WICB.
Mahabir thinks that this is no longer an issue :”That is water under the bridge as far as I am concerned.”
Mahabir went up against Emmanual Nanton for the post of vice-president and also lost by an 8-4 margin. “At the end of the day Dr. Gonzalves had his point of view but Cameron is the president of the WICB and they have to do what is best for cricket and put that at the forefront of their minds. I don’t think that will be an issue as the gentlemen all have West Indies cricket at heart and will be looking to get something meaningful in terms of the relationship between the two bodies.”
The WICB is facing a bill of US$41.95M owed to the BCCI after their players aborted their tour of India last year because of a payment structure dispute .