Gros Islet, St Lucia –The Board of Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board met in St Lucia at the weekend. Following are synopses of the more critical decisions taken and reports presented at the meeting.
1. The Board received a report from the Cricket Committee with regard to a review of the WICB Selection Criteria. The Board discussed the report and agreed to have a fuller discussion on the recommendation at the next meeting of the Board.
2. The Board approved Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen as Directors of the WICB. Sanasie and Kalladeen were nominated by the Guyana Cricket Board. Sanasie was previously a Director of the WICB before resigning in 2012. This is Kalladeen’s first appointment as Director.
3. The Board approved the recommendation to offer a renewal of contract to Team Manager Richie Richardson and Head Coach Ottis Gibson, pending completion of negotiations which are expected to be concluded shortly. (Both Richardson and Gibson continue in their respective roles on the tour to Australia.)
4. The Board approved a recommendation for the West Indies v Pakistan Series in July to be comprised of two Test matches and that the limited overs matches be deferred to a later date in the Future Tours Programmes cycle.
5. Subject to the announcement of the date for elections in Grenada, the Board received a risk assessment report from the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC) which has assessed the threat level as ‘low’ and which notes that law enforcement in Grenada will be in a position to provide adequate security, not only for the national elections but also for the teams, match officials, visitors and citizens.
The Board also received a written commitment from the Commissioner of Police in Grenada guaranteeing adequate levels of security for the three One Day Internationals slated for the Grenada National Stadium on February 22nd, 24th and 26th. The Board approved for the matches to proceed as scheduled.
6. The Board received a report on the latest developments on the situation in Guyana and is pleased with the progress being made and the movement towards the normalization of the situation in Guyana.
7. The Board approved a recommendation to tentatively schedule one of the West Indies v Pakistan Test matches and two rounds of Super50 and Regional 4 Day matches for the Guyana National Stadium pending the normalization of the situation in Guyana. The Test match is slated for July and the Super50 and 4 Day matches will be after the break in the season which is scheduled for March 12th to 20th.
8. The Board received an update on the status of Marlon Samuels’ injury and wished him a speedy and complete recovery.