The recent gifting away of the first One-day International to England by the management of the West Indies cricket team once again raises the question of the administration of the game in the Caribbean. A simple calculation of a system that is part of the job of the team’s analyst was left in the hands of John Dyson, the team’s coach, and manager Omar Khan, who were conspicuous on local television calling in the West Indies batsmen, when their team was behind by one run on the Duckworth/Lewis system.

In some parts of the cricketing world, both Dyson and Khan would have been looking for jobs the following day. But West Indian fans have grown so used to the self-generated, off-field distractions from within the administrative ranks of the West Indies Cricket Board that it is no surprise that neither was called to account for their shortcomings in calculation. This, coming on the heels of the abandoned Test match in Antigua, was another well-directed bouncer at West Indies cricket which clearly struck the target.

Such indiscretions continue the blunders of the current and past regimes of West Indies cricket and provide major challenges to the game in these parts. Last week, as well, West Indies Players Association boss, Dinanath Ramnarine, gave up his directorship as a member of the WICB. Ramnarine described his relationship as “untenable” and almost immediately outlined a series of concerns which the association had, leading to strike action by the senior teams in the premier regional competition.

A meeting which started in Barbados last night between Wipa and the WICB was expected to sort out some of the problems, particularly as it related to monies owed to regional cricketers, which appears to be a major area of concern. Ramnarine’s outbursts pointed to the board’s failure to meet players’ payments and areas relative to retainer contracts, fees for the “A” team, contracts for the upcoming England tour and the Players Provident Fund and these are expected to be put on the table at the current meeting. So do we expect anything to change after this discussion? Frankly, the answer is clearly no. For far too long, the sub-optimal management of West Indies cricket has threatened to bring the game into disrepute in the Caribbean.

In an earlier era when the sport operated at an amateur level, this might have been acceptable. During the period when West Indies was the dominant force, it could have been overlooked. But in today’s professional world, there is no excuse for the administration of West Indies cricket to be so poor. Technology and resources are at our fingertips. In addition, there are several Caribbean sports administrators who have excelled on the international scene. People such as Mike Fennel of Jamaica and Steve Stoute of Barbados, both of whom have served with distinction on the International Olympic Committee, come to mind immediately.

There is also our own Jack Warner whose presence as vice-president of FIFA has generated so much benefits for the Caribbean’s football that it remains a mystery why his offer to assist the board to sort out its never-ending supply of problems has not been accepted. The offer was made when Warner delivered the feature address at Wipa’s award function two weeks ago. It may be that the board’s constitution does not allow dialogue with Warner.
But the region’s football big man has offered to meet all costs of such a meeting, even in an unofficial capacity, since he clearly sees himself as someone with a contribution to make to another aspect of Caribbean enterprise. The WICB could do with every ounce of assistance. We simply cannot go on blundering our way and being made the laughing stock of the world. It is time for change.