BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Presidential hopeful Ricky Skerritt said there is a need to modernise the governance structures of Cricket West Indies (CWI) in light of blatant attempts at a political shut-out, as he and Dr Kishore Shallow bid to unseat incumbents Dave Cameron and Emmanuel Nanthan as president and vice-president.

Skerritt said this has become even more apparent, after he and Dr Shallow were blocked from presenting their ideas for reform of the game in the Caribbean to a number of territorial boards in the lead-up to the nomination process.
“We wrote directly to the presidents and the boards, asking only for the opportunity to present our plan for change,” he said. “We did not ask for their support or for a nomination.”

“Three boards – Barbados, Guyana and Windward Islands – wrote back in a matter of days, all turning down our request, almost in tandem.” Skerritt said: “In the case of Guyana, we noted that they had chosen to nominate Dave even before the nomination process was open.”

“The three presidents confirmed their unwavering support for the incumbents and very respectfully said no thanks to our request to present.”
CWI confirmed, last Monday, February 25, the nominations for Cameron and current vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan as well as Skerritt and Shallow. The regional governing body also announced that four of the six territorial boards, whose combined 12 votes decide the hierarchy of the organisation, had nominated Cameron and Nanthan.

Such a move is unprecedented in the history of the governance of West Indies cricket and Dr Shallow said it leads to much speculation that Cameron and Nanthan have used the nomination process in a show of political power in order to scare off supporters of Skerritt and himself.

“This type of blind, unrelenting support without even exploring leadership options or alternative ideas contradicts the democratic process and is probably not reflective of the majority base of members whom they represent,” Dr Shallow said. “Cricket leaders should seek more information from the base and should explore new strategies in order to push the game at the local and regional levels forward.”

Skerritt and Dr Shallow have announced a 10-point, Cricket First plan. It includes strategies for enhancing stakeholder relations, modernising the game and introducing term limits for the positions of president and vice-president in the hope of fortifying the governance structure.