3. The World Cup: Before I comment on the structure and changes which must prepare the foundation we need for our cricket, let us look at the World Cup as the major project of the WICB calendar. This event has been heavily criticised for its rigidity, high prices, being too up market, not delivering opportunity to the small man and requiring too heavy an investment. Some of the criticisms are not without merit. We must acknowledge that there were weaknesses which might have been addressed differently and from which we must learn for future planning of mega events. I will not explain the circumstances which led to these problems for this is not a World Cup report. But it is necessary to put these criticisms into perspective. Let us therefore quickly look at some of the achievements of the World Cup:

On-time delivery of 12 world- class stadiums and 22 practice grounds and facilities.

The skills development benefit from producing one of the largest events in the world, which has never before been attempted across nine sovereign states and which many thought was impossible.

The recruitment, training and outstanding performance of 4,300 volunteers.

Training and certification of over 3,000 security personnel across the region delivering an incident-free match-day operation.

Global execution of the largest ticketed event in Caribbean history with almost flawless distribution of 672,000 tickets.

The movement of 16 teams and officials with "plane side pick up" throughout the region over 57 days with a 90 per cent on-time record for all flights.

Moving 7,000 pieces of baggage across the region without losing one.

The management of over 9,000 men and women across the region.

Delivery to cricket boards a sum expected to be in excess of US$6m for cricket development.

Delivering to LOCs a benefit of some US$32m in ticket sales.

PROFIT

Earning an estimated profit of US$59m from the project as compared to South Africa's US$27.2m in 2005 and England US$23.3m in 1999. Further, the benefits of destination exposure simply cannot be quantified nor can the benefit to sport if we manage our stadiums right.

Much can be added, but what has been said makes the point. Our World Cup was much more than a learning experience. The WICB fought to get it. We won it, managed it and we delivered the approximate results we said we would. This was corporate achievement at its best and of which we can all be proud. I thank our CWC Board CEO, Chris Dehring, and his able staff for their outstanding performance.

4. The Academy: Now I turn to the foundation we must put in place. Over the past two decades all the major cricketing nations of the world, other than the West Indies, have established cricket academies. That is where they work on developing the whole cricketer: the player, his mind and the man, the type of development we have been talking about for 22 years, according to Clive Lloyd. It is long overdue that we broaden the horizons of our players and lift them above learning on the job.

Now finally, it is going to happen.

5. Restructuring: We undertook a major restructuring of the WICB management team which took longer than expected. Nonetheless, this exercise contributed significantly to the success of our cost reduction efforts and is now near completion with the recent appointment of an experienced CEO heading our team. Mr. Aanensen has come in to face a strong head wind with many internal distractions. Even so, he has made a good start and I have every confidence in his ability to get the job done.

6. WICB/ WIPA: Our relationship with WIPA continues to be a matter for concern. The arbitration process has assisted in that strikes have been avoided. But communication between the two organisations remains adversarial. There are reasons for this which I will not address in this report. But I recommend to the new administration that this remains at the top of the list of priorities.

7. Stanford 20/20: We continue to hope that we may find common ground with Mr. Stanford. We have done everything possible to do so and accommodate his requests but our overriding concern must be the growth and development of West Indies Cricket, and this is not limited to a four or five-year cycle. Nor can it be restricted to Twenty/20 cricket. It is unfortunate that the position of the WICB has, from time to time, been misrepresented in the media, so it may be helpful to restate our position.

We have from day one sought whatever approvals were requested of us on behalf of the Stanford organisation from our international allies on the ICC Board. Where these were not forthcoming it was not from lack of effort on our part.

Of course, there is an inescapable reality in all this which is that Mr. Stanford is a businessman. Whatever his desire to assist West Indies cricket this cannot be expected to occur without concern for a return on his investment. He has frankly acknowledged this. But marketing strategies important as they are, can never be more important than the right development plan and scheduling for our teams and this has to be our primary consideration.

We support Twenty/20. We admire the Stanford initiative and we are happy to hear that Mr. Stanford is having fun, but however attractive the short-term benefits, these must fit in the overall plan for rebuilding West Indies cricket not the other way round. Once this is understood and remains the common objective of us both, there is no reason whatever why a satisfactory formula should not be found.

8. Digicel Contract: This contract has been a source of concern and has not operated in our favour. It has now been renegotiated with more favourable results for WICB. We expect to earn approximately US$2.6m more per annum as a consequence. Even more significantly we have been able to negotiate "out" of the contract the offending clauses which had been inherited and we have included a termination clause which had not previously existed.

Perhaps it is necessary to add a further word particularly since its passage was only secured by the use of my casting vote as president. The only occasion on which I have done so in my two-year term.

Our administration met this contract mired in controversy. There was ongoing conflict over various interpretations resulting in unfavorable consequences to the WICB which led to earning even less than was expected from the contract. This led to high level intervention and eventually a complete transformation of Digicel's approach which resultedin the renegotiation to which I have referred. Now a completely new environment exists between Digicel and ourselves and they have committed to additional projects which have already commenced. We now have a contract which is vastly superior and one we can, with appropriate notice, end when it is in our interest to do so.

9. Business Plan: The ingredients for our Business Plan are now all in place. This will be one of the early tasks of our CEO and his team and should prove an invaluable guideline to plot the way forward.

10: Governance: And finally I address the issue of the Governance of West Indies Cricket.

We commenced a review of the Governance of the WICB a little more than one year ago. It was intended initially to reduce the size of the board by having one representative, instead of the two who now sit from each Regional Board. It was proposed to fill the six vacancies that would have been created with a mix of outstanding achievers from throughout the Caribbean. Immediately before the meeting it became clear that this proposal would not have obtained the necessary support. Our options were therefore to continue as we were going or add brandy to the water. We chose the latter and increased the existing number of directors by three. These gentlemen have served us most ably and I publicly thank Sir Alister McIntyre, Dr. Grenville Phillips and Mr. Clive Lloyd for their important contributions.

Now we have moved to the second phase of the Governance review: A small, high-powered committee led by former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable PJ Patterson, has been appointed to undertake this exercise and to make appropriate recommendations. The other members are Sir Alister McIntyre and Dr. Ian McDonald. This is probably the most important committee the WICB has ever appointed for its remit is to chart a course that will move the structure of WI cricket from its largely untouched colonial antecedence into the challenging new world of highly competitive professional cricket. The preliminary report which was submitted to the WICB on Saturday July 14th speaks volumes for the manner in which they have approached their task. Their report was warmly received by the board.

The opening statement of their report is "West Indies cricket does not belong to the WICB; it belongs to the people of the West Indies".

A message that goes to the heart of the wider involvement in the decision making process which is now required.

The Patterson Committee has promised its final report by September 15th. Meanwhile, the interim report will be discussed at the levels of the Regional Boards and their comments will have the opportunity of shaping the final recommendations of the Committee. I have requested Mr. Patterson to make one or other members of his committee available to the Regional Boards when the matter is being discussed and he is agreeable to doing so.

It is also important to add that as popular as it has become to be critical of the West Indies Cricket Board, the decision to appoint this committee was one which was freely taken by the board of the WICB and the board must be commended for this.

Gentlemen, let me end by saying that it has been an honour to have served West Indies Cricket. We have not achieved the ultimate objective of turning around the performance of our team which has been sliding for more than a decade, but then it was always more a hope than an expectation that this could be done in two years. We have neither the foundation, the facilities for preparation and certainly not the professional end product which is so much more evident in the other major cricketing nations. Even more fundamentally we have not had the money to do these things and have barely been able to survive. But now we have changed that. There is a new dawn, with new opportunity to rebuild West Indies cricket and we must move forward aggressively to build on what is now in place.

We can take satisfaction in the knowledge that we have lifted our environment from bankruptcy to financial viability; that the challenge of the World Cup has been successfully met and we have delivered where so many expected us to fail; that our 22 year discussed academy will now become a fact of life on September 14th; that the Governments of the Caribbean continuing the unprecedented collaboration inspired by the World Cup are committed to a start up date of October 1st 2007 for the Caribbean Lotto; that the controversial Digicel contract has been favourably revised: that the path for the future can be guided by a realistic business plan and that the long overdue examination of the structure of West Indies Cricket which is perhaps the most fundamental initiative of them all is fully under way. These are conditions precedent to any serious expectations that West Indies Cricket can be restored to its former glory.

Unfortunately, without foundation and structure, many have behaved like crabs in a barrel, who fight because they do not know how to get out of the barrel. Now hopefully that will begin to change for we have a road map.

So it has not been smooth sailing and there have been very difficult moments. I have no apologies for this, for our structure has outlived its usefulness with its limitations and qualitative shortcomings. It is a sad truth that it is virtually impossible to discuss any serious matter at Board level without having this leaked to the media. On one occasion a sensitive decision was leaked and reproduced in the media while the meeting which took the decision was still in progress.

At another level, one of our independent members was sufficiently moved recently to write to another Director who was the source of some 14 emails sent over eight days to remind him that our role is to serve West Indies cricket rather than feed individual egosÉ. and that behaviour is all part of a deliberately disruptive pattern. Fortunately it comes from a very small pocket of the Board.

So the governance/constitutional exercise now taking place is of critical importance and cannot be over emphasised for I am convinced that without changes to the structure in place everything else would have been in vain.

The ultimate challenge then is one to which you the people who love cricket in the West Indies must respond.

The WICB has opened the door for fundamental change, you must ensure that the process of consultation be widespread, constructive and successful.

I say farewell. I thank PM Mitchell of Grenada who, as Chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub Committee on Cricket, has been of tremendous assistance in mobilising the support of Caribbean Prime Ministers. I thank so many of you on the Board for your support. I thank the CEO and his team which I am confident will serve you well and wish the new president and his administration every success.