ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) – President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Dr Kishore Shallow is not fazed by the recent move by Guyana Harpy Eagles’ players Veerasammy Permaul and Kevlon Anderson to take them to court over ball tampering charges.
Last month, the duo filed an application in the High Court of Guyana seeking to clear their name after they were hit with Level 2 breaches of CWI’s Code of Conduct in their final round contest against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the recently concluded West Indies Championship.
They have received the full backing of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), which heavily criticised the actions of the umpires and match referee involved.
However, speaking during an interview on WESN Tv’s Face of Sports show recently, Dr Shallow said he believed CWI had a strong case.
“From CWI’s perspective on this particular matter, we believe it is done and dusted, in that the players admitted, accepted the responsibility after the charges were laid against them, they signed and we moved on.
“…At this point we are proceeding with what is before us in black and white, which is that the players signed and until we see something different, something in writing from the players then we will change our position, but for right now we have accepted the position of the players, which is that they accepted the charges and the penalties,” Dr Shallow said.
He admitted that even though the GCB had not thrown its full support behind him in recent times, he did not believe the court action was personal.
In fact, Dr Shallow said there was nothing wrong with CWI’s processes being tested.
“I’ve spoken to the Guyana Cricket Board and… I don’t think it is anything personal, but they are just seeking clarity and testing the processes and the systems of CWI and that is fine I believe.
“What we have to do at CWI is to show that our systems and our processes are robust enough to withstand any kind of scrutiny from the public or even from the court,” Dr Shallow said.
“It happens everywhere, and we just have to embrace it, but it gives us an opportunity to strengthen our processes.”