Barbados Cricket Association president Conde Riley is batting for Dave Cameron to become the next chairman of the International Cricket Council.
Riley, one of many directors on the Cricket West Indies (CWI) board, said on the Mason and Guest talk show last evening that the governing body of cricket in the region needed to support their own.
Cameron was proposed by the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) to be chairman of ICC and is in need of a second and final nomination which he is banking on would come from CWI.
“Dave is being proposed by USACA (United States of America Cricket Association), that’s a major money earner or potentially I should say in terms of the United States of America. There are lots of Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, West Indians, in the United States, a large market.
“So they proposed him and I think when I read what they had said that he was responsible for expanding the regional competition, also professionally paying from 15 to 120 men and women that he would carry to the ICC. The only ICC chairman that came from the Caribbean was Sir Clyde Walcott and what USACA is saying they admire what he did. So, I certainly would support him because I know what he (Cameron) did.”
Riley’s support is in vast contrast to how CWI vice-president Dr Kishore Shallow feels as he made it clear on Monday during the Nationwide Sports Show in Jamaica that Cameron would not be getting his support. In fact, Shallow knocked Cameron’s leadership style and seemingly was not happy with how the former CWI boss went about business when he was president of CWI.
However, Riley who served on the CWI board from 1998 under several presidents, hit back. “The vice- president (Shallow) should know that is not a personal decision. That decision would be a Cricket West Indies Board decision. Sometimes I get annoyed when we don’t support our own. USACA is putting up Dave Cameron and the reasons why they said that is because of what he did for West Indies cricket.
“He did expand our cricket season from five games to ten, he also professionalised West Indies cricket. As I said I have served under Kent Gordon, at the BCA Sir Conrad Hunte, Tony Marshall, Stephen Alleyne. We must be more supportive of our own. I think he (Dr Shallow) spoke out of turn because it was not a personal decision. It is a Cricket West Indies decision where all the directors would sit and decide if Dave Cameron is the right man for the job.
“What USACA said was that they were putting him up because of what he did for West Indies cricket. I have heard all the presidents talk about professionalising West Indies cricket, expanding and so on and he did it. So, I don’t see why it should be a personal thing and Mr Shallow, it is not his decision. It is a Cricket West Indies decision, not one man, because you may not like him or want to support him. You have one vote, I have one vote.”
He added: “In fact, at the AGMs (annual general meetings) the directors don’t vote. The shareholders’ representatives, so in the case of Barbados, Gregory Nicholls and Jason King will carry out the mandate of the Barbados Cricket Association, we sit on the side as directors. You cannot judge yourself, so we would have been running Cricket West Indies over the years, when we get to the AGMs, the shareholders’ representatives carry the mandates of the respective boards. So I don’t know why he would have made that comment because he has no votes at the meetings.”
The BCA president further reiterated that Shallow spoke out of turn and when that time came to determine whether Cameron should be given the nod, Barbadian lawyer Gregory Nicholls and BCA board member Jason King would carry out BCA’s mandate.
“At the AGM the decision as to who we support will come from the different territories and it will be a democratic position. If Cricket West Indies does not want to support Mr Cameron then so be it, we move on… It is not about me, it is not about Mr Shallow, it is not about Mr Skerritt,” Riley added.
Making it clear he does not get personal and it is all about the development of Barbados and regional cricket, Riley stated: “As you see what is happening with Barbados cricket and I told a friend of mine today, I don’t get personal. If we could win the Under-15, 17, 19, the women’s and the four days, as you know at the end of the eighth-round when COVID came in, we were leading by 40 points. That does not happen by accident, that comes with hard work by our coaches and our programmes. If you get personal, then you lose the vision, the sight of what cricket means to Barbados, Windward Islands, [the region].”
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
