A leading member of the executive of the local cricket board has chided Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron, president of the regional West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for their apparent slight in bypassing Trinidad and Tobago in their recent series of town hall meetings.
Patrick Rampersad, third vice-president of the T&TCB also wondered aloud whether the discourtesy was a result of their support of Barbadian Joel “Big Bird” Garner for the presidency of the WICB earlier this year in opposition to the Jamaican incumbent.
In that contest, Cameron, widely criticised for his lack of leadership of the regional game, defeated the former outstanding Test fast bowler, head of the Barbados Cricket Association, who ran on a ticket which included T&T’s executive member Baldath Mahabir, who was up for the post of vice-president.
In a tense election, Cameron and Emmanuel Nanton of the Leeward Islands received the support of Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Guyana and the Windwards, while Garner and Mahabir were backed by T&T and Barbados.
Rampersad also made reference to a media release issued by the WICB on August 4 which erroneously reported that T&T had hosted one of the of town-hall meetings leading up to the Jamaica talkfest.
The WICB release stated: “So far, the top brass of the WICB has had dialogue with the fans of the game from Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.”
This was refuted by Rampersad, president of champion Premier Division cricket team Merryboys of Diego Martin, who said that the event was planned for T&T, about which the local cricket board raised an issue, but it was not addressed by the WICB.
“In any event the town hall meeting was not held in T&T and to suggest otherwise is misleading at best, and cynical at worst. It was disrespectful and dismissive of the local cricket community. Is it that the views of the local board and the fans and stake-holders are not important?” asked Rampersad.
It is understood that the WICB had written to the T&TCB in a letter dated July 2 which stated: “It is with the deepest of regret that I write to advise that due to a critical change in my schedule, I will no longer be able to attend to the Town Hall meeting in Trinidad on July 24, 2015. Pressing obligations require that the meeting be postponed.”
However it was pointed out that during that period, Cameron was indeed in Trinidad to look at the final stages of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament when it was suggested, the town meeting could have been staged.
Rampersad said Cameron’s claim of his commitment to the meetings, and his assurance that Trinidad and Tobago is integral to West Indies cricket ring hollow. He said the local board is still left waiting for a new date which the WICB promised to name “as soon as possible” close to two months ago, but is yet to be communicated.
The latest town hall meeting was held on August 7, at the Kingston Cricket Club at which Cameron and Nanton ”took into consideration all the views to see how the Board of Directors and management team can facilitate change for a positive outcome for the game in the region” according to the WICB media release.
“The region’s cricket requires all of its affiliates and stakeholders to make the product develop and grow, and we look forward to hearing how we can continue to make a positive impact on the sport,” he said.
Rampersad lamented the fact that T&T fans were deprived of their chance to ask questions and make comments about the sport and how the region can merge its efforts to make the cricket industry more viable than it has been.
The topics covered at the town-hall meetings held so far in St Lucia (July 17) at the Castries City Hall, the Guyana session on July 22, and Jamaica (August 7) have been wide-ranging, according to the WICB, and included WI team selection issues, the operation of the WICB Professional Cricket League, player relations, and development, pitch preparation and governance matters.
Rampersad also expressed concern about pronouncements made by Cameron that he is considering withholding a monthly allocation of US $54,000 to regional franchises in the Professional Cricket League (PCL) run by the WICB and which is used for cricket development. He said that Cameron’s claim that stakeholder involvement and the role each Caribbean citizen can play in the revival of regional cricket are both important is diminished with the exclusion of T&T in the series of consultations recent undertaken.