ST JOHN'S, Antigua CMC):

THE WEST Indies Cricket Board (WICB) believes the Patterson Commission Report failed to deal with the many challenges facing the game in the region.

The WICB was responding to a four-page letter to WICB President, Julian Hunte, which was copied to the media and signed by former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and the members of his governance review committee.

The governance review committee, which comprised Patterson, Sir Alister McIntyre and Ian McDonald, was commissioned by former WICB President, Ken Gordon, last year to examine the structure of West Indies cricket and make recommendations.

Disappointment

The committee expressed its disappointment with the WICB's hierarchy for its lack of interest in the report and said that after more than a year, the people of the West Indies were still in the dark as to the outcome of the WICB's deliberations and the consequent fate of the report.

But the WICB said it had reviewed the report and several of the recommendations had been incorporated into the Draft Strategic Plan 2008-2012, and seemed to suggest the issues covered in the Patterson Committee Report were outdated.

Major challenges

"The WICB recognises that many of the major challenges facing West Indies cricket and, indeed, many of the challenges facing the administration of West Indies cricket were not dealt with in the Patterson Report," said a WICB news release on Tuesday.

"Among these issues are the negotiation of players' rights, intellectual property rights of cricketers, trade negotiation, the financing of international cricket, the issue of technology and the development of players and, importantly, the issue of television and internet broadcasting rights.

"These are now the big issues facing West Indies cricket and they can be addressed only when the management of the WICB is expanded and strengthened and the chairman of the CARICOM subcommittee on cricket accepted that this is, in fact, the case."

The WICB also seemed to take issue with suggestions that the number of directors needed to be downsized.

"It was further agreed that it would not serve to strengthen the management of West Indies cricket by reducing the number of territorial directors from two to one," the news release said.

The governing body noted that it had accepted the Patterson Committee Report's recommendation on the issue of a Stakeholders' Council as an advisory council, as opposed to an authoritative council over the directors.

"The WICB (would) meet with the council from time to time to receive its advice," the release added. "The make up of the council and funding for the council will be issues to be addressed at the Biennial Stakeholders' Conference to be held early next year.

"The issue of the council was accepted in principle and it was agreed that the advisory body will work for a period of five years, after which there will be a review of its work, with a view to necessary changes."

The WICB also disclosed that it had discussed the Patterson Report, as well as the WICB's Draft Strategic Plan at its recent meeting with the CARICOM subcommittee on cricket which was satisfied with the ruling body's review.

The WICB revealed that its president will report to the subcommittee at least once per year, but preferably twice per year, on the operations of West Indies cricket.

"It's in this context that we are very surprised by Mr Patterson's post-meeting remarks," the news released concluded.

"The WICB's Draft Strategic Plan was presented to the committee and there will also be a stakeholders' conference. The issues of accountability and transparency have been settled."