WICB unable to develop game
Published: Guardian
Monday, November 9, 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, November 4, 2015, 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.
The T&T Guardian is happy to publish the full report through a series of publications.
Following yesterday’s publication, here’s Part V.
In many of the interviews we conducted, individuals spoke to the lack of financial and infrastructural support and commitment to the sustainable development of women’s cricket. Ironically the decline in specific attention and development programs can be traced to 2005 when, following the ICC decision to merge the management and development of all cricket into one structure and encourage National Boards to do the same, WICB assumed responsibility for women’s cricket and thus the West Indies Women’s Federation ceased administering women’s cricket. The programmatic, planned development of West Indian women’s cricket has been on the decline since then.
Prior to 2005, women’s regional cricket included a two-day competition, a knock out competition, and a 50 over competition. After 2005, the regional tournament became only the 50 over tournament. Prior to 2005, there was a Senior Tournament and an Under 19 Tournament. After 2005, the WICB focused only on the senior team and discontinued the Under 19 tournament.
If the present trend of neglect continues, West Indies women’s cricket will eventually disintegrate in spite of the good standing of the current team. This is due to the following factors:
There is no organised, official programmes and policies in place by the WICB to develop women’s cricket. The Board states that this is the responsibility of the Governments and Territorial Boards. The WICB admits that all Member Territories do not have women’s teams but does not articulate a role in their development. “We need the commitment of governments through the Ministries of Education to bring it into the schools, so girls can play more cricket and graduate to the national and regional level†(Michael Muirhead: 14 August 2015).
The panel notes that the WICB management looks towards the Territorial Boards and Governments to take the lead in the area of cricket development for women, while it accepts responsibility for the development of cricket skills for the men’s teams. There is not enough teaching and coaching of the basics of the game, and more of two-innings cricket needs to be played, as that is the format where the game is best learnt. The development of young female players, to cultivate a budding crop of players to eventually replace the current team is also critical.
There are no organised, consistent set of structures in place by the Territorial Boards. Some Boards do not have clubs, do not encourage the development of clubs and do not organize national/territorial competitions.
The men’s cricket has national competitions, senior competitions, an A Team, an Under 19 and an Under 15. The Women’s cricket has one competition. “There is a clear pathway for the male cricketers, the same cannot be said about the women cricketers†(Wavell Hinds: 14 August 2015).
Prior to 2005, Women’s cricket had a representative on the Board. After 2005, Ernst and Young produced recommendations for the representation of Women’s cricket on the Board based on the ICC model. This was adopted but never implemented. Instead the WICB put a women’s committee in place made up of three directors who were charged with overseeing women’s cricket. That arrangement disintegrated (Ann Brown John: 14 August 2015).
While the women cricketers are very committed to the game, their compensation packages are very minimal. Ten senior players have ‘decent’ retainer contracts. The sharpest difference is at the regional level where the women receive an allowance of US $150 for a two week period.
The WICB seems primarily focused on the Senior Men’s Team, to the detriment of Women’s cricket. Indeed there is a perception of there being a built-in resistance among WICB Directors to representing West Indian women’s cricket at Board level.
As regards the format played by the women, it is cheaper and easier to manage a short format competition. The Panel heard anecdotal evidence that the recent (August 2015) tournament organised for the women cricketers by the WICB was only for 50 overs format, although the next major international tour in 2016 will be the T-20 format. A request from the women cricketers to the WICB to include a T-20 regional competition, in order for them to better prepare for next year’s international T-20 tournament, was rejected.
The foregoing observations apply to the women’s game. The specific analysis of conditions affecting West Indies women’s cricket reveal a heightened state of decline. We accept a new governance structure should augur well for both the men’s and women’s game. However given the quiet, deeper crisis in women’s cricket we offer a specific set of recommendations to advance the women’s game, create a stream of new and younger players and improve the international ranking of the current team, whom we applaud for their dedication and discipline.
The Panel recommends that the Vision Statement of the reconstituted Board speak directly to the development of women’s cricket. This can no longer be an afterthought.
The Panel recommends that a demonstrated commitment to the professional development of women’s cricket be a specific criterion in the recruitment and selection of Member(s) for the reconstituted Board.
The Panel recommends an enhanced role for the new Board in improving the skills and performance of the female players as well as the conditions under which they play, with a supporting role for WIPA where appropriate.
The Panel recommends developing specific marketing and sponsorship strategies to popularize the game, especially with families and young girls and to promote the star female players as mentors and role models, as well as to enhance their commercial value to sponsors. The star players should be used in sponsored promotions and speaking engagements in high schools in the Region.
The Panel recommends that more organised women’s cricket be played. The women need to play at different levels and formats more regularly (five 50 over games a year for the women is grossly inadequate).
