BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the administrative issues of regional cricket still on the front burner, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris has disclosed that his government supports the position taken by CARICOM leaders.
In a short response on what the government's position is on the cricket issue highlighted at the recently held Regional Heads of Government Meeting in Belize, Dr. Harris remarked that “St. Kitts’ position is anchored in the communiqué put forward by CARICOM”.
He was at the time responding to question from media representatives at his monthly press conference on Tuesday (Mar. 15).
Just last year, a report issued by a CARICOM panel which examined the operations of the sports discipline in the region, had proposed the “immediate dissolution” of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as one of its recommendations.
But several members of the Board, including President Dave Cameron, refused to step down, claiming that the report lacks credibility.
Cameron, in brushing aside the report, noted that none of the Heads of the territorial Boards was consulted during compilation of the report.
Dr. Harris told attendees at the press conference that he would not be involved in the characteristics of the report, but he is comfortable with what was submitted.
“The peculiarity of the individual governments would be peculiarities addressed from time to time, but we are comfortable with the outcome as communicated in the CARICOM document in relation to that particular meeting and with respect to the governance of cricket.”
This followed strong words from Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who has been very vocal since taking office.
According to an interview done with Stabroek News, Rowley said he wished that the Board for Cricket Control India (BCCI) would follow through with the US$42M damages lawsuit against the WICB for the abandoned tour by the West Indies Team in 2014.
“I have said publicly before that I had become very excited when the management – the current board – had taken action that could have led to the bankruptcy of the board.
“Because when they incurred that $44 million charge in India, I was hoping that the Indian board would press for their money and would have bankrupted West Indies cricket and we would have come out of that with a new arrangement, given the recalcitrance and the bombast that comes from the West Indies Cricket Board now.”
The WI team pulled out of that tour over a pay dispute, resulting from a decrease in their percentage earnings following a meeting between the WICB and the player's representatives - the West Indies Players Association, headed by Wavell Hinds.
During his interview with the Guyana-based news outlet, Rowley told the journalist: “It appears as though the board that had incurred that situation, they have gone and made some kind of arrangement – we don’t know the details of that yet – but they have made some arrangement to deal with that debt… I’m sure it will be at the expense of West Indies cricket and that perpetuates their (WICB) survival. I was hoping that didn’t happen.”
