FORMER Guyana and West Indies skipper Clive Hubert Lloyd asked the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) which is currently under the stewardship of Dru Bahadur, for their nomination as a competent candidate to manage the affairs of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), whose election is set for March 27 in Barbados. Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie, who is also a WICB Director, said the Executive Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board met on Thursday and was pleased to back Lloyd for the position of president of the WICB. He also stated that a formal request was sent out to other full members and directors to assist Lloyd in any way possible.
According to Sanasie, all of the executives of the GCB responded positively to the request when asked about Lloyd’s nomination, except the president of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB).
In an invited comment yesterday, the 68-year-old Lloyd, who played 110 Test matches for the West Indies scoring 7 515 runs at an average of 46.67, counting 19 centuries and a topscore of an unbeaten 242 against India, said he was pleased to note his country’s backing.
Lloyd will be facing the incumbent WICB president Sir Julian Hunte along with Jamaica’s Whycliffe Cameron, who, like Lloyd, received the backing of the Jamaican Cricket Association (JCA) for the top spot, having served as vice-president since 2007.
This is the first time since the incorporation of WICB Inc. that none of the directors will be allowed to vote on behalf of their respective territories.
Each full member will be entitled to two representatives who must not be a director on the WICB and contrary to reports in some sections of the media the president and vice-president of the WICB cannot vote at elections or removal of directors holding these two positions.
“It feels great to know the GCB – despite having their problems – have nominated me and that’s a good thing as they are the body recognised by the WICB and what I need now is for that to be seconded, since without that I am out of the race,” said Lloyd.
He said the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) was one of the Regional bodies who were approached to second his nomination, from which he is expecting a positive response, since both the GCB and TTCB enjoy a good working relationship.
“It comes down to cricket and if you are looking at improving the game, then everybody should be on board. It is not about personal gains, but more on developing our game. I tried it once before and was not successful.
“To say the truth, I am unhappy with the way our cricket is going for the past couple of years. Take the Regional four-day tournament as an example, where you have teams being bowled out for less than 100 and this is the tournament we use to select our team to go out in the world and do battle.”
The 1975 and 1979 Prudential World Cup-winning West Indies captain believes he has the ideas needed to take West Indies cricket from the number seven position in the world back to the pinnacle where it was, right up until 1995.
“When you look at it carefully, after we won the ICC Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Brian Lara in 2004, we have not won another major title until last year when the Darren Sammy-led team claimed the ICC T20 championships.
That’s a format of the game we have been dominant in over the past couple of years and certainly I would like to see us successfully defending that title, while at the same time adding more silverware to our cabinet,” stated Lloyd.

FORMER PLAYERS
He said he is looking to have the services of former players such as Gordon Greenidge, Sir Vivian Richards, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Brian Lara in his aim to take West Indies cricket to the pinnacle of world cricket, since his vision is to “take our cricket out of the doldrums and to put us back at the top.”
“When I became Chairman of the Cricket Committee, I used the expertise of Michael Holding and Andy Roberts to help structure out a successful programme and my aim is to do the same for West Indies cricket as well.
Australia brought back several former players into their administrative system and Ricky Ponting was not one of them and whilst that did not go down well with some people, look where they are today. Just recently, the management of England’s ‘A’ team sent home a few players for bad behavior,” said Lloyd.
He added, “I am willing to use my expertise, knowledge and passion for the game, my credibility, integrity and international professional standing and every moral fibre within to reverse the fortunes of West Indies cricket.
Central to the accomplishment of this is the building of a strong team to administer and manage the human, financial and technical resources to ensure the efficient realisation of personal and organisational goals.”
He also highlighted the need for a good working relationship between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) as another contributing factor towards the success of the players on the field, adding that once both parties work together, the West Indies can be a stronger force on the field.
“We need to do more to draw the young people to the game. Both the WICB and WIPA need to be singing from the same hymn sheet if we expect to achieve more success and that would be one of my goals as president of the WICB – to ensure we are all singing from the same hymn sheet.”
Meanwhile, the man who was nicknamed the ‘Super Cat’ in his heyday, found the time yesterday to give back to society, when he donated two wheelchairs to the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre on Carmichael Street.