By Samuel Peters
Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Sports, the Honourable Daryll Matthew was quite vocal in expressing his displeasure regarding the Cricket West Indies’ two-year cycle of tenure for positions at the regional body.
Speaking at the CWI Quarterly Press Conference on Thursday, Matthew stated that, “When you have an organization that is in election mode, it really leaves very little time to do much more than campaign, and I think that is doing a disservice to the organization. I believe with the thrust that you have made, you and your team have made over the past few years to improve the overall governance of Cricket West Indies. I think the time has now come for that final hurdle to be addressed.”
His statement has come about a few weeks after outgoing President Johnny Graves announced his resignation from the organisation, while President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Azim Bassarath, is set to return to his post of Vice President due to being the only nominee for the position after he vacated the role recently due to legal action taken by Guyana.
He went on to draw references to other organizations around the world using a standard four-year term model regarding the tenure of administration, which he sees as more feasible and practical. He said, “I think it is simply unsustainable for an organization the magnitude of Cricket West Indies. An organization that represents the passion of a people, an organization that has the resources, and for whom tremendous responsibility, and on whose shoulders tremendous responsibility lies, we can’t always be in election mode. And so I, you know, I hope that at some point in the very near future it is something that your board could address to perhaps seek to extend the term to a four-year term like almost every other international sporting organization around the world.”
Although he was affirmative in stating his case for a change to be made within the organisation outlook on its situation with the tenure, Matthew was careful in addressing the matter, respectfully making his claim, yet giving praise to the organisation for its success.
He explained, “I believe that over the years the organization has done tremendous work in improving certainly the governance aspect of the organization, and you know we live in a world today where everyone and everything is very heavily scrutinized, and as more resources are put into sports, and certainly this sport of cricket, is imperative that the public has that sense of confidence that the organization is being run in a manner that is expected and worthy of being the global organization that it is representing a people for whom cricket is more than simply a way of life. And I can understand the discomfort that you may have as the sitting president to be the one addressing it. There may be mischievous persons who would indicate that it’s a self-serving move. And so I’m not sure how you and your team will address that, but certainly to have a two-year term of office for an organization like Cricket West Indies is simply, in my personal opinion, not practical, nor perhaps sensible.”
