After the West Indies’ failure to perform, or rather the lack of, in the 2022 T20 World Cup, it would not be surprising if cricket fans’ New Year’s resolution was to divorce themselves from any emotional attachment to the West Indies team in 2023. Instead, they will be happy to sink in front of the TV and enjoy the game broadcast from anywhere in the world.
A fortnight into the year, mixed signals and reported rumors emanating from various ports in the Caribbean seem to confirm that West Indies fans have made a wise decision as the year ahead looks set to be filled with confusion, implied and inevitable; more losers.
Last Tuesday, January 10, Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Johnny Grave appeared on the popular weekly talk show Voice of Barbados, Mason and Guest, which serves as a vital source of information on the game for the Caribbean. The CEO made some revelations about the financial state of the game and development plans for the region.
According to Grave, “2022 has been a record year in terms of revenue and earnings and probably almost $80 million in revenue, so a high of $70 million is probably our record revenue, a surplus of $20 million in the north, so in terms of strength 2022 is probably a record year for the organization.
“Our crosshairs are in at the moment, we will complete our financial audit within the next week and that will go through the finance committee and then to our shareholders at GM in March.” The CEO also predicted a solid 2023 with two projected lucrative tours from India and England, and further promises of bigger coffers with England returning in 2024, and hosting the T20 World Cup in June 2024.
In terms of development, the CEO stated that each of the six territories will be equipped with a strength and conditioning (S&C) coach in order to further professionalize the system. The S&C coach will work with franchise and international players as well as under 15, 17 and 19. Grave further noted that this was so “because we need stronger, fitter and faster players, we need players to be properly rehabilitated in a professional system because we cannot afford to have the talent we have is not on the field, the talent we have to lose to career-threatening injuries and this is all part of the professionalization of the system on and off the field.
“We need to work hard on the facilities, we need to work hard on the training facilities in terms of giving the players access to better coaches, that’s why we have our training system and that we have over 1,000 new qualified coaches. in the last two years and we must continue to make investments.”
We’ve heard similar grandiose plans and promises before, only to be told later that they weren’t financially viable. Is Grave, who has been in charge since 2017, during which time our fortunes have not improved, making a sales pitch? Women’s contract with CWI expires this year, and it has been claimed that it has already been extended, a rumor that has been denied by CWI.
There have been other mutterings and whispers about the Caribbean. Last week at Mason and Guest, Barbados Cricket Association President and CWI Director Conde Riley expressed disappointment that Barbados, the defending West Indies Championship champions, will not host a match for the second consecutive year. The first two rounds are scheduled for Grenada and Antigua in the first two weeks of February, while Trinidad will host the final three rounds in the second half of March. The CWI Director’s take on the situation was: “… I understand why Cricket West Indies is where it is… It tells a story – they are not thinking… It is what it is… Where there is no vision , people will be lost…”
Sir Andy Roberts, the legendary Antiguan fast bowler, in an interview with the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper in the first week of the year, claimed that the players more than the coaches should take responsibility for the West Indies’ failures on the field of play. The former West Indies selector claimed that coaching has become a scapegoat for poor performances and that attention has not been paid to what really matters. His comments came as the Caribbean await the appointment of a new coach following the resignation of Phil Simmons following the T20 World Cup disaster.
Shortly before the start of the North-South Cricket Classic on January 5 at the National Cricket Center in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) President Azim Bassarath hit out at vocal critics of the governing body.
“Critics would have you believe that they are successful coaches, analysts, commentators and administrators, but are unable to demonstrate success at any level, not counting, of course, their spread of misinformation, malice and confusion,” he stated. Bassarath, formerly. went on to defend TTCB noting that “armchair critics” don’t see “the recent emergence of Joshua Da Silva, Jayden Seales and Jeremy Solozano, who are successful products of TTCB’s development system.” Bacchanal, wherever you turn in the Caribbean when the topic is cricket.
Last November, the CWI announced that it had commissioned a three-member panel to conduct a comprehensive review of the West Indies’ humiliating group stage exit from the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The committee was chaired by Eastern Caribbean High Court Judge Patrick Thompson and included West Indies legend Brian Lara and South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur. The mandate of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Review Panel was to undertake a holistic assessment of all aspects of the team’s preparation and performance in the global tournament. The CWI media release did not include a time frame, but noted that the freelancers assigned to the task will submit a report to the CWI Board of Directors, with recommendations.
As the region anxiously awaits the panel’s findings and proposals, it has been reported that CWI President Ricky Skerritt will not seek re-election at the March AGM. Skerritt came into office four years ago on a tidal wave of goodwill along with a ten-point agenda to revive West Indies cricket at all levels across the region and bring its management structure up to par with the top ranked cricket playing nations. One is tempted to quickly condemn his tenure as a colossal failure, but a more careful examination is called for.
One of Skerritt’s first initiatives was to commission the Wehby Report to look at CWI’s management structure. This was the fifth such governance review of the board’s operations in 17 years. The 36-page Wehby report recommended that the CWI undertake sweeping reform and reduce the size of its board, while seeking greater background in the composition of gender and skills groups. Among many other suggestions, he proposed a reduction in the number of commissions from 12 to five. Those sentiments were merely echoes of Patterson and Wilkin’s proposals, which fans had heard several times over the years.
Skerritt, in the presentation of his paper ‘Next Steps’, had stated, “There will be… potential political headwinds ahead, but I assure all stakeholders and West Indies Cricket lovers that I will personally champion the process important part of CWI’s governance Reform, no matter how long it takes…” It’s a Catch-22 situation. For governance reform to happen, current board members will have to give up their positions for the new structure, a highly unlikely scenario.
Instead of condemning Skerritt’s efforts at the wheel, we should empathize with him. Does Skerritt now see CWI as just a house of cards where all the aces and kings have been replaced by jokers and any attempt to modernize this archaic dinosaur would be imitating Sisyphus rolling the stone up the hill for eternity? If he saw it as an exercise in futility, maybe Skerritt is just throwing it down and letting the jokers rule the roost.
