AN INDEPENDENT Review Panel of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), established to examine the management of the game in the region by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has recommended the disbanding of the institution.The panel, chaired by Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Professor V Eudine Barriteau, included president of the Caribbean Court of Justice Sir Denis Byron, former Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies cricketer Deryck Murray, president of the Caribbean Development Bank Dr Warren Smith and president of the Grenada Cricket Association Dwain Gill.
According to a Jamaica Observer report, the committee based their findings on the fact that among other things, the model was outdated.
“In the 21st century Caribbean, the sporting outcomes of the game of cricket will continue to dramatically affect the psyche of Caribbean people. The enduring and ongoing impact of the triumphs and tribulations of successive West Indies cricket teams on the cricketing public will continue to be well documented and researched,” the report stated.
“Yet, we maintain that the issues confronting the governance and administration of cricket exceed the dynamics of the game on the field of play and its effect on the psyche of Caribbean people.
There is an inherent and as yet unresolved tension between the evolution of the game of cricket into a powerful, professionally-driven entertainment and sporting industry and a system of governance predicated on an earlier, more simplified set of requirements,” the panel said.
“In this regard, the panel strongly recommends the immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board and the appointment of an Interim Board whose structure and composition will be radically different from the now proven, obsolete governance framework.”
The report went on to state that it believed the measure was the only credible solution in order to transform both the regional governing body and by extension, the game itself. (Sportsmax.com).