Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARY WEST INDIES Cricket Board president, former Melbourne president and life member Teddy Griffith, returned to his club on Saturday night and in a well received speech as guest speaker, a speech during which he talked about the problems facing West Indies cricket and the plans to improve West Indies cricket, a speech that ended with a ringing round of applause from the audience, he promised three things.
One was a successful, Caribbean style World Cup in 2007, one was that every effort would be made to ensure that the West Indies team will be in the top three in three years, and one was financial support for clubs.
On the World Cup, Griffith said: "The mandate of the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. is to deliver the best ever World Cup, on time and on budget. The ICCCWCWI 2007 World Cup is to be a Caribbean event, with a distinctive Caribbean flavour and is to deliver maximum economic returns, consistent with cricketing objectives, for the benefit of the countries of the Caribbean."
On the performance of the West Indies team, he said that "the goal is to have the performance of the West Indies team improve to the extent that by the time I leave office in June 2005, I expect that we will have cemented our position in the top three of the statistical country ratings in both Test cricket and one-day internationals."
STRAPPED FOR CASH
On support for the clubs, Griffith said that although the WICB was strapped for cash, although, because of the financial arrangements for tours as decided by the ICC, it was due mostly to circumstances beyond its control, the Board will be doing something in an effort to assist the clubs.
"This less than satisfactory financial position has resulted in the Board facing a persistent capital and cash flow deficit which has meant that no funds have been available for distribution to its shareholders - the member Boards. Naturally, this situation has itself affected the ability of the member Boards to invest adequately in domestic cricket development - and the Jamaica Cricket Association is caught in this vicious circle which, I presume, places severe constraints on its ability to fund appropriate domestic programmes of which your club, Mr. President (Tony Becca), is an important part."
NON-TRADITIONAL SOURCES
The WICB president then went on to say that apart from making every effort to increase its take from traditional sources such as ticket sales, television and sponsorship, it must equally focus on attracting revenue from non-traditional sources and that that is presently under consideration.
It was then that Griffith said, to a deafening round of applause from a gathering that included Jackie Hendriks the president of the JCA who had made an impassioned plea for help for the clubs while bringing greetings from the JCA earlier in the programme, directors of the JCA, presidents and members of the clubs, "we hope to be in a position to share these with our constituents during the first quarter of next year."
According to Griffith, the clubs are an important part of West Indies cricket, apart from the schools, club cricket is the foundation of West Indies cricket, and although he spoke a lot about such things as the importance of the West Indies coaching programmes the development and documentation of a comprehensive regional coaching and development programme, regional age group competitions and programmes to develop the best of players from those competitions, the Shell Academy, Kiddy cricket, talent identification, the grooming of captains, and retainer contracts for the Test and one-day squads and the best players from the A team, the B team and the Under 19 team, it was good to hear him saying so.
It was good to hear, not only because he is the first West Indies president in a long, long time to talk about the clubs while talking about the development of West Indies cricket, but because the president also talked about introducing every young child (boy and girl) to the game, and without the schools and the clubs to keep them interested, to provide facilities and equipment and to guide their development, that would be a waste of money, time and energy.
Without the schools and the clubs, there would be nowhere for the youngsters to learn the game and to be properly groomed.
A CLUB MAN
It was also good to hear because it is almost 100 per cent certain that he will deliver. Griffith not only played club cricket. He was also a club man, he believed in the importance of clubs and therefore the presence of clubs, and that was why when Melbourne folded at Elletson Road due to financial problems in the early 1960s, when so many took the easy way out and went to other clubs, he and a few others stayed with the club in a desire to keep it going, and why he contributed so much to ensure that it survived.
He who feels it knows it, and as a former president of a club, the president of the West Indies Board has felt it and knows that the clubs need help if they are to continue their contribution to West Indies cricket.
