Headhunting firm to select WICB members

GOVERNANCE—Full Report of the CARICOM Cricket Review Panel
Headhunting firm to select board members

Published: Guardian
Sunday, November 8, 2015


KINGSTON—A report on the state of West Indies cricket is strongly recommending the immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the five-member Cricket Review Panel appointed by the Caricom Sub-committee of Cricket Governance, is recommending the appointment of an interim board to run the affairs of the sport in the region.

The report, which was made public during a live news conference in Grenada on Wednesday, calls for a the creation of a new governance and management structure for cricket in the region as well as a new set of criteria for the selection of the management and board members of WICB.
Meantime, president of WICB Dave Cameron has promised a “full response” to the report.

For the next few days the Guardian will publish the full report through a series of publications. Following yesterday’s publications of the report here’s Part IV.

Full Report of the Caricom Cricket Review Panel

D The Path towards the Transformation of West Indies Cricket (continued)
The Panel endorses the foresight of these recommendations and proposes a revised structure incorporating some of their key elements with new features. Appendix VII provides a diagrammatic representation of this structure. Our final proposed structure is grounded in the realities of 21st century Caribbean Cricket. It bears some similarity to the structure of Cricket Australia which started under very similar circumstances to West Indies Cricket.

They accepted the need for review and change and produced a revised governance structure that emphasized professional competencies over territorial representation. It should also be noted that other international Board(s) are seeking to use Cricket Australia as a model for their own future development.

The Panel concludes these steps have to be implemented in order to begin the overdue work of transforming the governance structure of West Indies cricket.  The new governance structure must be committed to the process of transparency and accountability in order to function as a successful, commercial enterprise. The Panel recommends the implementation of an entirely new operational framework, involving institutional changes and new criteria for the selection of the management and Board members.

The selection process must be overseen by a Head Hunting firm which will lead a process that is rigorous, thorough and driven by a determination to produce highly skilled, competent and knowledgeable individuals of the highest calibre.

The Panel therefore recommends that a Head Hunting firm be selected to ensure that the new Board members possess a particular set of criteria and skills appropriate for membership on a reconstituted Board.

Until the new Board and governance structure are in place, the Panel recommends the appointment of an Interim Board and a Change Management Expert. The Panel took note of the fact that an Interim Board has been installed in Sri Lanka, without falling into disfavour with the ICC.

The Panel recommends a board comprising of nine members selected on the basis of proven professional competencies. This is a requirement in order to achieve the long overdue shift away from representation to professionalism.

The board members should possess the skills, professional expertise and track record to advance the growth and success of West Indies cricket as a viable sporting business representing the core values of the Caribbean people.

Given the fragile conditions affecting the sustainability of women’s cricket, and its relatively underdeveloped character, the Panel recommends the appointment of a Board member(s) with a specific remit for and representation of women’s cricket.

Persons to be considered for board membership would be identified through a consultative process and should first be screened/selected by a nominations council who would make their selections available to the Head Hunting firm.

To ensure the required transformation, the Panel recommends that the Prime Ministerial Committee approach the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to provide grant funding for a team of consultants to define the process and regulatory framework for a transformed Board’s management structure, governance arrangements and shareholding in a new dispensation.

The Panel therefore recommends that the Prime Ministerial Committee explores funding possibilities with the CDB to support the various initiatives for the transformation of the governance structure of WICB. The Panel recommends the development and implementation of a common set of criteria or articles of incorporation for the six Territorial Boards.

E Transitional Arrangements
The Panel discerned a blurring of roles and responsibilities of board members especially the management of WICB who sit on the board. It is usual in the corporate world that the policy making functions of a Board of Directors are distinct from the day-to-day administrative functions of management.

We expect and recommend that the Change Management expert maintain this distinction in the Interim Board and the newly reconstituted framework.

To effect these required and necessary changes, the Panel restates its earlier recommendation that a professional Change Manager should be engaged to oversee the implementation of the recommendations for transforming the governance structures to fit the new criteria, within clearly defined timelines.

In making further recommendations, the Panel highlights two important aspects of cricket in the West Indies, viz:

West Indies Women’s cricket
The concerns the Panel has expressed about the general state of the game of cricket in the Region are compounded and exacerbated when the Panel examined the specific issues surrounding women’s cricket.

The state and status of women’s cricket is complicated by contradictory features. Combined they do not augur well for the growth, expansion and professional sustainability of the women’s game. Given the ICC’s growing emphasis on women’s cricket and the commendable performance and reputation of our women’s cricket team, this is a potential area of strength for cricket in the twenty first century Caribbean. It is our considered view that it is not currently receiving the support and attention which it deserves from the WICB and the Territorial Boards.

In terms of status, at the international level, the women’s team is ranked No 5 of ten countries ranked by the International Cricket Council.

The men’s team is No 8 of the 12 countries ranked. Within the Region, in spite of their international standings, the professional women’s cricketers do not enjoy the same status, attention and compensatory benefits from the WICB as the professional men’s team. For the Panel, however, it is even more problematic that the WICB and the Territorial Boards have provided very inadequate infrastructural support, apparently expecting Governments in the territories to address the needs of women cricketers.

CMC

THE PANEL MEMBERS

Prime Ministerial Committee
Eudine Barriteau—Chair
Sir Dennis Byron—Member
Dwain Gill—Member
Deryck Murray—Member
Warren Smith—Member

The urgency of its appeal and the earth-shaking nature of its recommendations immediately exposed the recalcitrant, leaden-footed WICB.  The Caribbean Media Corporation reported on Wednesday that when Grenadian Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who is the Chairman of the Caricom Cricket Governance Committee, called for an urgent meeting with the WICB on the proposals he was told by its President Mr Dave Cameron that a scheduled December 12th meeting – more than a month away – would be used for this purpose.