>Devon Dick/ColumnistThe West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) needs to be changed quickly if West Indies cricket is to survive in the
short run.
The WICB has plunged
cricket into a crisis largely of
its own making. The board excluded Brian Lara from
consideration for the squad preparing for the first Test match with South Africa because of his personal endorsement contract with Cable & Wireless (C&W). Then that decision was reversed because Lara's contract was in place before the WICB contract with Digicel. Duh!
The board needed legal advice to tell them that. And then no apology, but just business as usual with an invitation to Lara to decide within 48 hours if he is available. Come on get real.
high cost
The WICB's action is going to cost the board a lot of money. On what basis is Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith excluded? These players were not part of the VB series in Australia where it is alleged that players misbehaved and were disrespectful to the sponsor Digicel. These players could challenge their exclusion in court.
If Lara, Gayle, Bravo and Sarwan misbehaved on the tour why is it that they have not been disciplined? They should be
tried and the matter brought to closure. The failure of the board to act on the allegations of the Digicel's representative is a dereliction of duty. Too often there are reports of misbehavior on tour and nothing appears to happen. What is needed is a management tribunal on tour that will issue monetary fines and if the offence warrants it then the board should get involved. Players should also have the right to appeal decisions.
What is the WICB's response to the Digicel report? The board should have dissociated itself from the report that labelled the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) a terrorist organisation. That will not lead to harmonious relationship between the board and WIPA. In fact, Digicel should have reprimanded its representative for going overboard with his
comments. Even the comment that players had more telephone
numbers for females than runs made is fit for 'rum talk' rather than an official report! sponsorship does not give anyone the right to monitor the number of phone numbers. Is the problem that they were not using Digicel to make the phone calls? What is needed is a code of conduct.
Another dangerous activity of the cricket authorities is ignoring the advice of intermediaries. The CARICOM ministerial committee headed by Grenada's Prime Minister, Keith Mitchell, should be respected. The umpire's decision is final whether right or wrong. The Jamaican government must respect the decision of the Privy Council on its ruling on the Caribbean Court of Justice, because it is the final court. Judge Saunders made a ruling on personal endorsement contracts and it should be respected. The board cannot be a law
unto itself and Mitchell has
already rebuked the president
of the WICB for raising the
temperature around the dispute.
Then Cable and Wireless bowled a bouncer by claiming that they have a letter, which stated that they were required to match US$30 million when Digicel has offered US$20 million. What is
the truth? These are serious
allegations. Either persons from the board should resign or C&W should be disqualified from
sponsoring the 2007 World Cup for creating mischief.
elementary management
An English paper, the Daily Telegraph, states that Richard Bevan, CEO of the Federation
of International Cricketers Association claims that over the last five years, the WICB has failed to understand that their players are more than just employees they are the product itself. He also stated that the WICB should make sure that all their stakeholders were on board before switching from C&W
to Digicel. This sounds like
elementary management. So what part of that the WICB couldn't understand?
We need a new board which is constituted differently and which has a different attitude towards the players and product, sponsors and the public. It must also understand the global environment and devise innovative ways to finance cricket, lovely cricket.
The Rev Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church.
