Robert BuddanTHE CRISES and controversies of CARICOM are not restricted to the CSME and the CCJ. Crisis also exists in our cricket and CARICOM Heads of Governments have a responsibility to sort out the general problem of how the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) manages West Indies cricket.
West Indies cricket is an institution of excellence in CARICOM and is probably that for which we are best known in the world.
CARICOM governments have not been passive bystanders to the decline in West Indies cricket but with the World Cup of Cricket looming, the recent crisis between the board, West Indies Player's Association (WIPA), and the sponsors, call for decisive action that can set a smooth path for hosting the World Cup.
CARICOM HEADS AND CRICKET
The West Indies lost their dominance of international cricket when Australia defeated the team in 1995. CARICOM Heads lost no time in turning their attention to the future of West Indies cricket. In 1996, they reported deep concern over the state of West Indies cricket at a time when the loss to Australia was symptomatic of a trend towards decline. The heads expressed the desire that West Indies cricket return to the first class status it had enjoyed for many years.
CARICOM Heads made certain innovations to devote more attention to West Indies cricket. In 1996, they formed a sub-committee of the Prime Ministers of Jamaica, Antigua, and Dominica to hold a meeting with the WICB to determine how best to strengthen West Indies cricket. This evolved into the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket in 1998. In addition, annual heads of Government Conferences, the highest decision-making authority of CARICOM, were used to regularly assess the progress of the West Indies in the game and the game's importance to the region.
For example, in 1997 the heads said they regarded sports as critical to the dignity, self-worth and pride of the people of the region. Through sports, the region had gained international respect and it was important to use sports as a means of regional excellence.
However, in 1999, the heads had more reason for concern. The heads reviewed the performance of the team with the board and discussed the board's development plans and ways that governments could help. They agreed that a major conference on cricket should be held and asked UWI to convene that conference in Barbados. They mandated the CARICOM Council on Finance and Planning to consider using part of the proceeds of a CARICOM Logo towards the development of cricket.
Yet, at their heads of Government Meeting of 2000, CARICOM leaders still had reason to be dissatisfied. They reiterated the special place of cricket in the region's social and economic life and called for stakeholders to be encouraged to contribute to the game's development.
This was a direct response to the Concerned Citizens for Justice, a group from Antigua and Barbuda, expressing its concern over the state of West Indies cricket.
The Cricket Sub-Committee of CARICOM Heads, represented by the Prime Minister of Grenada, met with this group. The heads of Government felt that the conference, eventually held in Barbados in 2000, should be used to air the group's concerns, and in fact the views of the widest possible number of people across the region. In the meantime, they asked individual governments to facilitate national consultations in preparation for this conference.
THE CRISIS CONTINUES
The year 2000 might well have been a turning point for West Indies cricket. The West Indies was able to defeat Pakistan and Zimbabwe and the Cricket Conference passed a number of resolutions which CARICOM Heads accepted. The resolutions concerned institutional strengthening, cricket education, player centredness, the West Indies Players Association, people's participation; gender, and the World Cup of 2007.
The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket was mandated to study the full report of the cricket conference and to hold talks with the West Indies Board and other relevant institutions to prepare recommendations in time for the next heads of Government Meeting in 2001. The heads asked that the board make them aware of what governments would be asked to do so that governments could have time to give the support that the board required.
These initiatives did not fix the problem. By 2002, CARICOM had called a meeting with the board to overview the state of West Indies cricket.
However, by then the emphasis began to shift to preparations for the World Cup.
The continuation of the crisis was evident in players' disputes just before the West Indies tour to South Africa in 2000, the VB series in Australia in 2004/05, and the present series against South Africa. The board and players have moved from crisis to crisis. Issues of pay and sponsorship contracts have become central in these crises.
Sponsorship has caused great controversy. As one commentator (Philip Hackett) put it, "Sponsorship is critical to the success of professional sport but not if that sponsorship is harmful to that sport. Sponsors cannot be allowed to select sports teams. The WICB is responsible for that process. Cricketers should be chosen to represent the West Indies based on performances on the field and until the WICB can return to that policy they have lost control of the regional sport". Ricky Singh put it plainly: "A turf war for markets between two telecommunications giants in the Caribbean region has now deepened the crisis of West Indies cricket. "
This has caused many to wonder if the board's loyalty is to the sponsors or the players, governments and public and to ask for more accountability of the board to the cricketing public and playing interests. For Hackett, the problem is the outdated and amateurish attitude of the WICB. It has too much authority and is not accountable.
The Concerned Citizens for Justice had called before for greater democratisation, transparency and accountability of the WICB.
Supposedly, several CARICOM heads had expressed dissatisfaction about numerous aspects of the management and state of West Indies cricket
A CRICKET COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
WIPA now charges that the board is despotic, unanswerable and accountable to no one, and continues to change the terms and conditions for selection. It also charges that "the board was prepared to sacrifice West Indies cricket and the development of a successful team on the altar of commercial expediency."
CARICOM's approach has been to mediate in the crises. The chairman of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket was deeply involved in the recent dispute. The matter is now in the hands of a CARICOM-appointed adjudicator. However, a more direct intervention is necessary, one that should begin with an inquiry into the board's methods and means of governance.
Rickey Singh believes that CARICOM should have a representative on the WIBC even if he only has observer status so that CARICOM Heads can have a better understanding of what the board is doing. In the final analysis, WIPA's call for an inquiry into the WICB's operations seems justified.
WIPA does not feel that the board should be the sole authority in deciding on the validity of the personal contracts of players. It insists that the best team must be selected on merit and cricketing ability and that the selection of captain and vice-captain be done in a transparent manner. It asks for an open inquiry commissioned by the heads of CARICOM Governments.
This seems a first and important step towards restoring confidence and trust between the board, WIPA, sponsors, and public, and this is the responsibility of CARICOM Heads of Governments. Probably, the next meeting of heads in the summer can agree to this. After all, the heads must make sure that we all have confidence in CARICOM
institutions.
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona.E-mail: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm
