By Tony McWatt
The 2023 New Year has now dawned upon us. Happy New Year to all. For West Indies cricket the 2023 New Year’s dawning, however, also comes with the harsh reality that in the relatively short time frame of another five years, the region will be celebrating the centenary anniversary of its entry to and participation in international Test cricket.
Having twice enjoyed, during the ninety-five years that have now passed since that magnificent occasion, the ultimate success of being ranked and regarded as the very best in the world, the West Indies should not want to be celebrating such an anniversary in its current unfortunate status as a perpetual cellar-dweller among Test cricket’s ten top-ranked teams. As such, the adoption of an “out with the old; in with the new “mantra and modus operandi for 2023 has, therefore, now become an absolute necessity for West Indies cricket, if any meaningful progress is to be made in terms of restoring its fortunes to former glory by the time 2028 comes around.
Thankfully, in this regard as soon as this coming March the sport’s regional governing body, Cricket West Indies (CWI), will be hosting its 2023 Annual General Meeting, an all-important component of which will be the election of a new President and Vice-President. Somewhat surprisingly, at this relatively late stage of proceedings, there have been only two publicly announced declarations of interest in the CWI Presidential role, both emanating from Jamaicans. One resident within the region, the other diaspora-based in the United States.
As the incumbent Jamaica Cricket Board President and a current CWI Director, Billy Heaven may have completely squandered whatever advantages those two positions would have provided him with his recent incoherent public rambling about the ways of doing the same or different things in relation to the administration of West Indies cricket. Almost immediately after the West Indies team’s disastrous and embarrassing Super12 Qualification Stage exit from last year’s Australia-hosted T20I World Cup, Heaven went on regional television to call for changes to be made. In doing so, however, he suggested that the available options included “doing the same things the same way, doing the same things differently or doing different things the same way!”
It was a very public demonstration of incoherence at its highest degree. And hardly befitting of anyone aspiring to be the next holder of the highest, presidential reins, of West Indies cricket administration.
By stark contrast to Heaven, his fellow Jamaican now USA resident and countryman, Ray Ford, has been quietly and diligently making the rounds within Caribbean cricket circles, pleading his case for an “outsider” such as himself to be granted the opportunity to take over the leadership mantle for the administration of West Indies cricket. With his ultra-impressive list of acquired academic credentials, coupled with the immense knowledge he has gained from decades of active involvement in Caribbean cricket as an accomplished and highly regarded journalist, Ray Ford’s case is certainly not one that should be dismissed lightly.
Furthermore, in stark contrast to Heaven’s public ramblings, Ford has clearly outlined his manifesto list of actions he would undertake if granted the presidential opportunity. Measures which he feels must be taken immediately to arrest and correct the many wrongs that have so badly affected West Indies cricket over the past almost three decades, and which in combination have served as the root causes of its decline.
As part of his ongoing presidential campaign, Ray Ford has also recently been among the ever-growing numbers of individuals who have been calling for changes to be made, at all levels of West Indies cricket’s governance structure. It has not escaped keen followers of West Indies cricket that in stark contrast to the halcyon days when its teams were at the heights of world prowess and the sport was being administered by former players, the current over-bloated 18-member CWI Board of Directors only has within its roster a single individual who ever represented West Indies in any format.
The former West Indies captain Darren Sammy is the only current CWI Executive Board Member with the distinction of having played cricket for the West Indies. Sammy now sits on the CWI Executive Board as a “Non-Member Director.”
“Cricket West Indies owes much of its leadership and development to its Board of Directors. Our Board is made up of 18 regionally reputed professionals who come together at least four times a year to discuss the affairs of the organisation…The Board brings together distinguished professionals from diverse backgrounds such as banking, finance, law, commerce, insurance, medicine, tourism and sports administration to help further the mission of the organisation!”
So boasts Cricket West Indies’ website on the virtues of its Executive Board. Given the noticeable lack, however, of any actual active history of involvement by its members in the sport they are governing, is it any wonder that West Indies cricket now languishes in the bottom half if not absolute cellar of each of the game’s existing international formats? The Executive Boards of most, if not all, of the other international cricket participating top ten countries are by contrast comprised of significant numbers of former players.
As several impressively membered Committees have recommended, the time has long since come and passed for West Indies cricket’s governance to be restructured. Sadly, the ostrich-type heads-buried-in-sand individual self-interest protecting mentalities of the members of recent boards have prevented any of the previously struck Committees’ recommendations to be implemented to any meaningful degree.
One of the immediate measures whoever assumes the presidential reins come this March should therefore be seeking to implement, would be to increase the active involvement of former players in the governance of West Indies cricket. Those who have played the sport at the highest levels and know enough about its administrative requirements. Towards this end it should be made mandatory for at least one of the two Directors from each of CWI’s six member territories to be a former player, who has at least played representative cricket at the national level.
The 2023 New Year with its impending presidential leadership change, also offers an opportunity for the recruitment of some fresh faces in terms of CWI’s Coolidge Cricket Centre’s administrative personnel. Fresh faces with innovative ideas and initiatives aimed at solving the many ills that have been affecting West Indies cricket for far too long. Initiatives which can help to rebuild and strengthen the crumbling foundational pillars that were once the cornerstones of outstanding West Indies success on the field of play.
Foremost among those should be efforts to restore lost interest and active participation in cricket by school-aged children from as young as five years onwards. The more the numbers there are of kids actively playing cricket at every age level, the greater will be the likelihood of there being meaningful levels of progression at each stage of the participation pyramid. From its grassroots base to the very top as manifested by representing the West Indies internationally in any or all of the three available formats.
CWI CEO Johnny Grave and his numerous HQ staff members, including Jimmy Adams as Director of Cricket, have had multiple opportunities during their tenure to meaningfully improve the fortunes of West Indies cricket either on or off the field, but have failed to do so to any significant degree. 2023 would be as good a time as any for the entire lot to be swept out of office, thereby making way for others to be provided with opportunities to turn things around.
Out with old, in with new as quickly as possible in 2023. The five-year progression towards celebrating West Indies’ 2028 Test cricket entry centenary in the most desirable and suitable manner of once again being ranked and regarded as one of international cricket’s top three teams must be jump-started as of this coming March.
McWatt is the Publisher of both the WI Wickets and Wickets/monthly online cricket magazines that are respectively targeted toward Caribbean and Canadian readers. He is also the only son of the former Guyana and West Indies wicket-keeper batsman the late Clifford “Baby Boy” McWatt.
