Ramnarine backs Caricom’s call for new WICB

Ramnarine backs Caricom’s call for new WICB
By JOEL BAILEY Saturday, February 20 2016



DINANATH RAMNARINE, the former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies leg-spinner, as well as ex-WI Players Association (WIPA) president, is backing the call of Caricom for the disbandment of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, upon his return home from Belize on Thursday night, said that one of the matters discussed at this week’s Caricom meeting was the poor state of West Indies cricket - off and on the field. And, according to Dr Rowley, Caricom insisted that the WICB be dissolved, based on recommendations of a cricket sub-committee.

Contacted via telephone last evening, Ramnarine said, “I support the decision taken by Caricom.

Every other organisation world-wide is having a look at its governance structure. Many of them are actually being told that they have no choice but to change their governance structure.

We’ve seen a complete restructuring of FIFA.

He continued, “most recently the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), the court mandated them that they change their governance structure and accept (their) recommendations.

What is taking place is that many of them are being forced to change, which is unfortunate.” Ramnarine noted, “if you look at the governance structure of the WICB and the regional boards, they have remained the same throughout. If you look at the various regional boards, some of them are not having elections. Some of them, their constitutions are unfair and undemocratic.” Asked how soon does he foresee change in the WICB, the outspoken Ramnarine replied, “I think the Trinidad (and Tobago) Cricket Board should signal the need for change, and they should immediately disband themselves, and hopefully ask (an) independent body to put an interim committee and review the constitution.

“I think each of the regional boards should actually allow for a process like this to take place,” he added. “(We should) allow the stakeholders then to come forward and elect people based on proper governance and so on, based on a proper constitution.

“As it is right now, unless that happens then we are really spinning top in mud.” Concerning Rowley’s statement itself, Ramnarine noted, “it’s pointing in a particular direction, that Caricom is prepared to stand its ground. They are unanimous and are prepared to go the distance to deal with this particular matter.

“At no point in time did Caricom indicate that they want to control cricket,” he ended. “It must be categorically stated that that is not the intention.”

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Influential former West Indies Players Union boss, Dinanath Ramnarine has thrown his support behind CARICOM’s decision to insist on the dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Ramnarine said he believes the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board should lead the way in the process.

The often controversial Trinidadian, who led WIPA for 10 years before quitting in 2012, said international sporting organisations were all restructuring and the WICB needed to follow suit in order to be effective.

“Every other organisation world-wide is having a look at its governance structure. Many of them are actually being told that they have no choice but to change their governance structure,” Ramnarine told the NewsDay newspaper here.

“We’ve seen a complete restructuring of FIFA. Most recently the BCCI (Indian Cricket Board), the court mandated them that they change their governance structure and accept [their] recommendations.”

He continued: “If you look at the governance structure of the WICB and the regional boards, they have remained the same throughout. If you look at the various regional boards, some of them are not having elections. Some of them, their constitutions are unfair and undemocratic.”

CARICOM announced Friday it would be standing by its Cricket Governance Committee’s recommendations that the WICB should be “immediately dissolved” and an interim board appointed along with a change management specialist who would oversee the restructuring.

The regional grouping said the recommendations had been endorsed by Heads of Government during their conference in Belize last week, and all options would be explored to ensure implementation.

Last December, the WICB flat out rejected the main recommendations, calling the investigation of the Cricket Governance Committee “limited in scope.”

But Ramnarine, whose numerous battles with the WICB are well known, said territorial boards should initiate the restructuring process by voluntarily disbanding.

“I think the Trinidad Cricket Board should signal the need for change, and they should immediately disband themselves, and hopefully ask [an] independent body to put an interim committee and review the constitution,” he advised.

“I think each of the regional boards should actually allow for a process like this to take place. [We should] allow the stakeholders then to come forward and elect people based on proper governance and so on, based on a proper constitution.”

More than ego, economics, people turn off their sets when West Indies are winning everything, major money involved and West Indies doesn’t have the population to demand the big money like India and so forth


Revenue sharing comes into play and the elite nations do not want to share that money with West Indies, so they pay off and sabotage instead, plus despite Indians and Aussies loving West Indies cricket, West Indies beating them like before in the hay day will not be good for business in their nations… so they ensure our best team doesn’t play


If India loses, hundreds of millions stop watching


Tv revenues changed the entire game