It is unlikely that Ken Gordon, the urbane and competent president of the West Indies Cricket Board, could have found any more eminent or cricket-loving West Indians than those he has named to propose how he might restructure the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

P.J. Patterson, the chairman of the committee appointed by Mr. Gordon this week, is a highly respected West Indian statesman who, for more than a decade, served as Prime Minister of Jamaica. Sir Alister McIntyre is an economist and West Indian nationalist, whose last formal post was vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies, rivalled only by cricket as an intact West Indian institution. Ian McDonald is an accomplished writer whose West Indian instincts are profound and his love and celebration of cricket are unchallenged.

They may be joined by Sir Henry Ford, a former foreign minister of Barbados, who, like the others, is a dedicated West Indian and someone who understands the role of cricket in West Indian development and the impact of the game on our collective psyche.

But its eminence notwithstanding, we are not quite sure we grasp the relevance of the Patterson team, what it is being asked to do or why. To be sure, terms of reference were announced:

To review the performance of the WICB and to assess its strengths and weaknesses.

To consult with cricket's past and present administrations, players, organisations or the general public.

Recommend a structure for the WICB and to make recommendations to improve the overall operations, team performance and the board's credibility and public support.

The point is that the WICB has undergone much restructuring in recent years and we are not sure what it is that is new and or liberating that this group of public officials and statesmen can bring to the project of enhancing the viability of West Indian cricket.

There is no intent, of course, to diminish the intellect or capacities of these men. But we believe that the requirements of West Indian cricket at this time are more entrepreneurial and management-oriented rather than issues relating to collective governance, which is the strength of Mr. Patterson's group.

We will be reminded of having argued in these columns about the need for players to understand the historic grounding of cricket and the game as a mirror of the region's social evolution. But what is more important at this time is the economics of cricket in the Caribbean: How to generate the financing required to promote and advance cricket in the West Indies.

In other words, the issue is to run cricket as a business, to market the product and to generate a surplus. In that regard, the WICB has to be structured as a firm capable of managing an enterprise efficiently to ensure the best returns, which is what Pat Rousseau and Clarvis Joseph set out to do before they were so cruelly undermined.

Indeed, Mr. Gordon understands these things. He has been a successful businessman who operated in the notoriously fickle media sector. Perhaps he appreciates something that we do not yet discern.

Whatever the reasons for his decision, we believe that his concern is the interest of West Indies cricket. So we wish Mr. Patterson's committee every success.