BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - GRENADA’s Prime Minister Hon. Keith Mitchell has made public his continued displeasure with the current structure of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), with the latest issue being the recent sacking of Head Coach Phil Simmons.
Simmons was sacked shortly before the senior team’s departure to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where they will be locking horns with Pakistan in three T20, three ODIs and three Test matches.
His scking comes on the heels of the Board removing Curtly Ambrose as the Bowling Coach for the regional men’s team, and the sacking of Darren Sammy as the T20 captain – following comments he made at the World Cup back in April.
The WICB in a statement pointed to the shift in culture and approach between the two parties that led to the termination of Simmons’ contract.
“In recent times, based on the public pronouncements of the coach and the approach internally, we have identified differences in culture and strategic approach. The WICB would therefore like to thank the coach for his contribution and wishes him the best in his future endeavours,” the statement said.
During a recent interview with the Grenada Sports, PM Mitchell explained that the problem is with the way the present structure exists within the WICB.
This, he noted, gives persons within that body the “opportunity to do as they wish without any accountability”.
Members of the regional board have come in for heavy criticisms over the past 12 months, as a report from the CARICOM Governance Committee on Cricket called for their resignation and for the existing structure of West Indies cricket to be dissolved.
Those statements formed part of a comprehensive report that was published to revamp the game in the region.
But Mitchell, during the media interview making its rounds on Social Media, claimed that the board members do not have the people of the region at heart when they make such decisions.
“I have said over and over that the whole question of West Indies Cricket is about putting a system in place that makes that organization responsible for something, that is a public good.”
He added, “Something that Caribbean people feel strongly about - that defines us as a people. We just have a few persons leading the organization over the years with no sense of accountability and responsibility to the people of the region.”
PM Mitchell emphasised that it is clearly what “suits” the board members individually is what is important, “and not what suits the people of the region”.
The regional unit kicks off its Asian swing with a T20 practice match today (Sept. 20) in the Emirates.
