FORMER Barbados and West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner in his manifesto leading up to the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election of office-bearers for period 2015 to 2017, said he is looking to ‘Restore Pride to West Indies Cricket’ if selected as its president.The 62-year-old Garner who played 58 Test matches and took 259 wickets at an average of 20.98 with seven five-wicket hauls during the 10 years he represented the West Indies, is also the president of the Barbados Cricket Association and the lone contender for incumbent Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron’s seat.

In his manifesto which was seen by Chronicle Sport, Garner outlined his priority and strategic areas by saying, “During the last few years we have been focusing on many other things while neglecting the main business of the WICB which is “cricket” and this is the main product that we must concentrate on.
The initiatives outlined in this document will not require great financial input but must be managed efficiently and effectively. We know that there is a Strategic Plan which outlines the WICB programme up to 2017 but these small adjustments can make a great difference to our cricket going forward.”
For his vision, Garner said, “The Territorial Boards are key resources in West Indies Cricket. As such, we must work with these Boards and all our stakeholders, including WIPA and the players, corporate organisations and CARICOM, among others, to create effective partnerships in order to build a strong, unified, accountable and well-governed organisation capable of bringing West Indies Cricket, on and off the field, to a position where we are once again a respected force in world cricket.
The WICB will be respected as a high quality cricket-playing entity, both men and women, and respected as a business organisation, capable of efficient planning and implementation, to keep pace with the dynamism of the modern business environment within the sport.”
As many are aware, the West Indies have been languishing in the bottom half of the Test and ODI rankings for several years now, while there have been too many below-par performances that have let down the fans and paying customers around the world.
If handed the WICB presidency, Garner intends to tackle both issues head-on, by placing more emphasis on cricket with a definitive plan of moving up in the rankings, establishing definitive standards of performance and conduct as agreed between WICB and the players.
He also intends to conduct a full review of cricket at the junior level, work more closely with the territories in formulating policies for developing our young cricketers, provide more coaching for the territories and encourage and expand women’s cricket among others.
Bearing in mind that the Territorial Boards are the shareholders of West Indies cricket, the 6’ 8” tall Garner believes that the WICB has to embrace change and make the Board more acceptable to the stakeholders, addressing among other things, governance.
To this effect, he is looking to reactivate the WICB executive committee, let the Board’s chief executive officer implement and manage the Board’s policies without the need for an “executive president” and allow the WICB to become more accessible to the public and other stakeholders.
He is also looking at providing the shareholders’ representatives, on a quarterly basis, with information regarding the activities/decisions of the Board in order for them to properly discharge their responsibilities, among other ideas for good governance of the WICB.
As it relates to the finances of the WICB, Garner said he intends to develop marketing/sales capability to generate sufficient income to sustain the WICB’s programmes for the foreseeable future and work with territorial boards to create new business opportunities and sustainable corporate relationships within the territories.
However and as a means of priority, if Garner succeeds Cameron as the head of the WICB, he intends to first and foremost have a face-to-face meeting with the BCCI to sort out the issue of the US$42M, otherwise we would have to wind up the organisation.
Another priority for Garner is to have the WICB develop management and leadership skills throughout the WICB and its constituent territories, from players to CEO, by providing suitable training and developmental opportunities.
Incumbent Cameron and challenger Garner will contest the elections for president of the WICB at the AGM which is carded for this Sunday, with both being the only nominations for the top post, with Cameron being backed by Guyana, Jamaica, Windward Islands and Leeward Islands, while Garner has the support of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

(By Calvin Roberts)