By Leslie P. Lett Jr.
I read with great interest the Barbados Cricket Association’s 29 March, 2021 “NEWS RELEASE # 7/21 – BARBADOS CRICKET ASSOCIATION STATEMENT ON CWI AGM – MARCH 28, 2021, in which it contextualized and attempted to defend the behaviour of its two Shareholder Representatives with regard to their failure to attend the said AGM.
To cut a long story short, the BCA DID indeed consent to the waiver of the stipulated 14-day period of notice as requested by CWI.
This request did not indicate an alternative timeline nor did the BCA request one as a condition of its waiver. I am led to say this because, surely, the BCA would have indicated these things in its statement had they existed. And it has not. So, by its own admission, the BCA consented unconditionally to the waiver. But now there is rending of garments, and gnashing of teeth.
At no time between the BCA consenting to the requested waiver on Friday, 19 March, 2021 and the date on which it received the documents on Friday, 26 March, 2021, did the BCA communicate with CWI expressing any concern re the non-receipt of the documents. I am led to say this because, surely, the BCA would have indicated any such communication in its statement had it done so. And it has not.
And if the BCA was so peeved and all so riled up re the receipt of the documents on 26 March, 2021 and decided to claim that it did not have adequate time to peruse and to analyse the documents, then why, in the name of all that is decent, did its Shareholder Representatives, the very next day, confirm to the CWI their attendance at the CWI AGM? This confirmation and its date are provided in the CWI’s statement re the adjournment of the AGM – and were the report inaccurate, surely, the BCA, in its statement, would have disputed it. And it has not.
BCA president Conde Riley (left) and BCA vice-president and CWI vice-presidential candidate Calvin Hope have copped criticism in several circles for last Sunday’s no-show by the BCA representatives at the CWI Annual General Meeting.
Now, if the BCA should claim that its Board of Directors met and decided that its Shareholder Representative would not attend the CWI AGM only AFTER these same Shareholder Representatives confirmed their attendance at the AGM – (and maybe, perhaps, the time expended to hold such a meeting, could have been better utilized in the perusal and analysis of the CWI documents?) – then why-oh-why, in the name of all that is decent, was this decision not communicated immediately to the CWI? I am led to ask this question because, surely, the BCA, in its statement, would have indicated this communication had it been conveyed. And it has not.
In fact, the Jamaica Cricket Association’s (JCA) Statement on the Postponement of Cricket West Indies AGM makes it clear that the representatives from the Barbados Cricket Association were “absent without an apology for their absence.” The BCA has not disputed this either. But there is all this glib and oily talk from the BCA President about “goodwill”. And yet the BCA chooses just not to turn up at a most important meeting – an AGM at which there is to be an election for the two highest offices of the organisation. That is “goodwill”? That is Leadership? In the specific context, it smacks of Disrespect and, quite plainly, unbecoming Cowardice!
However, it IS good to have it openly and publicly admitted by the BCA that this plot to manufacture a no-show to the CWI AGM was, to borrow the damning phrase of a former director of the WICB, Baldath Mahabir, “a prearranged strategy“. Premeditated. One is led to wonder, too, if there was any collusion with the GCB Representatives in this cynical manoeuvre? A conspiracy? Or did the Representatives from these two Boards – who were both supporting the challengers in the election – just happen, quite coincidentally, to choose to operate in the same identical manner at the same identical time? Apparently, some people enjoy falling off turnip trucks – no matter how painful the experience can be!
Taking all of this into consideration, the BCA President’s spiel that the BCA’s “actions in no way sought to frustrate the process” rings extremely hollow and, frankly, profoundly disingenuous to me – that is, IF the “process” referred to here by the BCA President is that of the democratic election of a CWI President and Vice President for the next two-year term!! And that is a truly debatable “if”!
For it would not be the first time that there has been legitimate cause to question anti-democratic tendencies exhibited by the BCA! In fact, during the last CWI election cycle I had cause to write to the press with regard to what I and many others saw as an anti-democratic stance of the BCA when it initially turned down a request from the then-challengers, Messrs Skerritt and Shallow, to address that organisation with regard to their vision for West Indies cricket. Public pressure saw the BCA sensibly change its dangerous behaviour. The BCA vociferously supported the then-incumbent Mr. Dave Cameron. Indeed Mr. Cameron’s resounding loss to Mr. Skerritt in that 2019 election appears to have been a severely traumatic event for the BCA President who seems utterly incapable of coming to terms with the bruising defeat even up to this present time! Interestingly enough, Mr. Cameron, himself, publicly vowed in a 19 February, 2021 radio interview with Nationwide Sports to do “Whateve it takes!” to see that the BCA-supported 2021 challengers – Messrs Sanasie and Hope – were successful in the elections. Ominous words?
[https://nationwideradiojm.com/dave-cameron-supporting-anand-sanasies-cricket-west-indies-presidential-bid/?fbclid=IwAR1ffxxKgO8HpqKKLwsD7Qec8JX_xn-tzp88akuaEQCec_NEAUXS5xjcktA]
The now-infamous BCA and GCB Representatives’ no-show, and the MANNER in which this act was perpetrated, belie and make a mockery of the BCA President’s claim that, in this instance, the BCA is “wholeheartedly committed to the development of West Indies cricket and the West Indian people.” The conduct of BCA Representatives is certainly not behaviour I would recommend to any of the young West Indian people I have the serious responsibility of teaching.
But I have no doubt the BCA President’s words will be more than satisfactory to many who have, for about two years now, been harbouring and parroting the most vapid mantra expressed in the previous CWI election cycle of 2019: “Cameron for Life!” And in spite of all the politic protestations to the contrary, this is the disturbing orientation that festers at the very core of, and has spawned this abysmally misguided BCA and GCB no-show.
The BCA has an extraordinarily great deal of which it can be justifiably very proud! A truly impressive heritage which did not come about by magic! The organisation of cricket in Barbados is second to none in the region. However, I do maintain, that in this particular matter, better should have been done by the BCA.
