PRESIDENT of the West Indies Cricket Board Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron last Thursday night showered praise on the Drubahadur-steward Guyana Cricket Board for another fantastic year on and off the field of play, at that entity’s annual awards ceremony.

Addressing his audience which included former GCB president Chetram Singh, Retired Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard, Guyana Olympic Association president K. Juman-Yassin and other special invitees and awardees, Cameron said he was heartened by the success story the GCB wrote this year, despite the circumstances they faced.

He began his feature address by responding to a statement made by Juman-Yassin who called for the WICB and if possible International Cricket Council’s strong intervention with the issues affecting the GCB and its administration of the game locally.

Below is Cameron’s feature address, including his response to Juman-Yassin;

“I must say that we have been trying at the WICB level, to bring the situation in Guyana to an end and up to today, I spoke with CARICOM Secretary General as it relates to the GCB situation, so yes we are working on seeing things being straightened out as the GCB is an important factor of the WICB.

The strength and legacy of club cricket in this country is rich and in many ways unparalleled in our region. So many clubs in this vast country have nurtured players from their cricketing infancy all the way to the Test arena.

From the Georgetown Cricket Club to Demerara Cricket Club to Albion to Port Mourant to Blairmont – international cricketing legends and icons of the finest calibre have come from all corners of Guyana.

Their names are as familiar to you as they are to cricket fans everywhere in the world – Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs, Alvin Kallicharran, Basil Butcher, Colin Croft, Roy Fredericks, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

The production line of iconic cricketers here in Guyana and in the rest of the Caribbean was something we all took for granted. We were so richly blessed with players who were world-beaters that we became complacent in the thought that these players would just keep popping up.

Things have been different in recent times. The production of world class players has dried up.

Some of the players of the past who played a handful or no international matches at all, in today’s world, would have likely had long careers – Faoud Bacchus, Rabindranauth Seeram, Leonard Baichan, Andrew Lyght and so many others.

It brings us to the question of what must we do to strengthen our game to ensure the future success of West Indies Cricket?

You have all heard it said before – that in the past when Guyana played Barbados at Bourda or at Albion, or even at Hampton Court it was like a mini Test match. The contests were intense, the players were on both sides were gunning at each other and it was a battle royale and the crowds came out in the thousands to view these epic encounters.

How are we going to raise the profile of First Class cricket to a level where we can market it as an attractive product?

At the WICB we have examined the West Indies cricket structure from bottom up and we recognised that there has been a weak link in our First Class competition. It had become diluted and lost a good deal of interest. We also came to our senses that when we were beating the world they put in a proper First Class structure and restricted our participation.

The players were not always able to prepare for the regional season in as thorough a manner as they would have liked because they could not dedicate the time and energies towards it as they were seeking livelihoods elsewhere.

I am pleased to report to you that as of this year that has changed.

The WICB has launched the Professional Cricket League. Players are on annual retainer contracts and cricket and only cricket is their job. No longer do they have to treat cricket as an amateur or semi-professional endeavour.

You now have 15 of your best players on contract who receive a monthly salary which allows them the comfort of taking care of themselves and their families’ needs.

They go to their cricket jobs every day like any other employee. They train and practice and enhance their skills and on a day-to-day basis – all with a view to ensuring that they are fully prepared for competition in the Regional 4-Day and NAGICO Super50 tournaments.

We have umpires a few years now that are full time. We have 12 umpires who are being paid annual retainers a few years now.  The Franchise system is supposed to hire at least 12 full-time coaches and competent administrators.

We now have the beginning of a professional cricket structure. This is the sound bite for the media – we believe this structure will start bearing fruit in 2-3 years not after 4 rounds.

From the results thus far it appears as though the newly minted Guyana Jaguars have found an excellent formula for success as with four rounds of the Regional 4-Day completed they lead the points table with 57 points.

This marks a tremendous turnaround from finishing bottom of the table last season. The team management, the GCB and all those involved deserve a resounding round of applause and I am certain you are looking forward to this continuing all the way to the final round.

I must also say this is not a surprise to me as they were the most prepared at the seminar we had in Barbados to discuss the business plan around the new franchise, with special kudos being given to Anand Sanasie and Raj Singh.

What this turnaround tells me though is something very instructive. It is that the teams are not markedly superior to one or the other and therefore with an equal opportunity of preparation any team can move to the top of the table and take the title.

This is not only instructive but also encouraging as we are unlikely to see regional cricket dominated by one team for a long period and this will only help to engender strong competition and lift the quality of regional cricket – not only at the top levels but also at the junior levels.

It is this sort of commitment to purpose, detailed execution of plans and sustained preparation that will be required of each of the Territorial Boards and the franchises across the region to ensure the rebirth of a world class West Indies First Class Tournament and I cannot emphasise this enough.

But this is certainly not the be-all and end-all. After all, First Class cricket is the level just below Test cricket so First Class cricket, in terms of the developmental pathway is at the top level.

However, we envision, that with a strong First Class structure where young players can see that there is a viable career and a livelihood to be had from cricket they will have a greater interest at the youth level.

What a strong First Class structure allows is for cricket to be an attractive life choice. So even if a player does not make it to the Test arena he can still benefit from a reasonable life once he sustains his performance at the First Class level.

So the first thing is that we will be able to ensure that our best players are playing in the franchises. They will have high quality coaching and support staff, they will be playing at the best venues and on improved pitches (We have engaged Kent Crafton from St Lucia as the consultant on our pitches and he has started his remit). The quality of the competition will rise.

Then following on we will see a greater level of competition within the various territories among players who will be competing for those attractive annual franchise contracts.

This will then have the knock-on effect of raising both the quality and profile of the Under-19, Under-17 and Under-15 tournaments as selectors and franchises will be looking at these competitions to identify the best players of the future and to secure franchise contracts.

It is the natural developmental path but one which had to be structurally organised by the WICB and one which now has to be executed by the Territorial Boards and the franchises. It is not a secret formula; it is a practical approach to strengthening our beloved regional sport.

(I must congratulate the President and Hon Sec and the rest of the executives for the work they have done in winning the WICB U-19 and U-15 competitions this year – round of applause)

It is truly the professionalisation of West Indies cricket.

There is no doubt that talent exists within each territory but these young players need that developmental pathway where they can receive the coaching and be part of a meritocratic system that they know what is required of them at every stage to move on to the next level; a system which provides them with the resources to improve their skill level and fine-tune their game to allow them the competitive edge.

The first responsibility is for these players to be captured in our school and club systems. This will then allow the Territorial Boards through the Professional First Class Franchise System, to identify the best players at these various stages.

As it stands to date, the choices from which the WI sectors are working at the various stages are very limited. The Professional Cricket League will expand the pool of players from whom the West Indies selectors, now headed by your own Clive Lloyd, will have to choose.

And there are economic benefits and incentives to be had as well.

The franchises across the region will gain a percentage of the WICB revenue which will go towards the broader First Class player pool. Before, this revenue share went only to the international players. Let me state that the WICB is committed to partner with the 6 TBs to fund 6 First Class Franchises in the region.

I am happy to say that the GCB recently set up the Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) which will oversee the operations of the franchise system on behalf of the WICB. The CGI is charged to ensure the 15 players selected under their franchise are properly developed and prepared for WICB selection.

As I alluded to earlier, the franchise players have the responsibility of adhering to their signed retainer contractual agreement by maintaining their fitness levels and training standards as outlined by the Guyana Jaguars coaching staff.

The players are being paid and provided the support to ensure that they are true professional cricketers. They have a responsibility to attend to their end of the bargain by ensuring that they do what is required of them in maintaining high standards of fitness, performance and professional conduct on and off the field.

It is a system of professional accountability to which the players must sign on and conform. The franchise system also gives the franchise the opportunity of addressing one of the concerns the just concluded Task Force cited of getting closer to our players.

Our players need to feel we are supporting them in their endeavour to improve their performances.  “We believe that if we take care of the players they will take care of the performance”.

We now are turning our attention to Women’s Cricket as they have been our most successful team. We now have a Women’s Championship and we need to improve on the domestic structure as well.

I take this opportunity to charge the selected 15 professional cricketers to commit to your development and your career. At the same time be very cognizant of the need for you to develop yourselves off the field, make the time to further your education, speak to the Board and ask for guidance they will know how best to advise you.

It is important that you ensure you are well rounded for life after cricket. In this regard there are also other opportunities available for your life after cricket – there are coaching certification programmes, umpiring and match refereeing opportunities among others.

You should not wait until your playing days are over to think about these things. You must think of them now and formulate a plan. Cricket, on average will take up between 10 to 15 years of your adult life. Cricketers these days, with the exception of the evergreen Shivnarine Chanderpaul of course, retire in their mid to late 30s. There are several decades of life left after retirement.

Not only will you, as a professional cricketer, want to give back to the game but you will also want to keep active and continue to earn an income from the game. Our sport is a diverse one which requires many talents and skills and you should also give thought to what you wish to pursue once the bails are lifted on your playing days.

Of note we have also created the West Indies Retired Players Foundation to raise funds, assist our former heroes and most of all look at ways that we can keep some of our former players in the game as mentors, trained coaches etc.

Once again congratulations to the awardees, and I applaud the efforts the GCB has made and continues to make in the development of the youth cricket through the stages.”

(By Calvin Roberts)