The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has rejected a recommendation that it be disbanded and replaced by an interim committee, saying that the Caricom review panel that made the proposal did so without the facts and a firm understanding of the status, developments and achievements of the WICB to date.

The board’s forward defensive stroke came on the same day that the West Indies, once the world’s top and most feared team, crashed to their second heavy defeat on the current three-Test tour of Australia, going down by 177 runs with a day to spare.

In fact, the team’s abysmal form was a major feature of the WICB response as the administrators argued that the Caricom panel sought to link the on-field performance of the team directly to the board’s governance of the game.

“The team consists of the best players available for selection and consists of men, not boys,” the WIBC said. “The players are well-supported, are comparatively well-paid as professionals, and have an obligation to produce their best efforts consistently. It is therefore wrong to blame ‘governance’ of the WICB for the team’s performances on the field.”

According to the WICB, this attempted connection missed the initiatives it has put in place. “In any event, the WICB was not given the credit when the team won the ICC Champions Trophy 10 years ago, or the T20 World Cup just three years ago,” the board argued.

The Caricom panel comprised Professor V Eudine Barriteau, principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies; Caribbean Court of Justice President Sir Denis Byron; former Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies cricketer Deryck Murray; Caribbean Development Bank President Dr Warren Smith; and Grenada Cricket Association President Dwain Gill.

It delivered its report early last month.

The panel was established last April following an agreement at a meeting between the WICB and the Caricom Cricket Governance Sub-committee, the latter comprising prime ministers Gaston Browne of Antigua & Barbuda, Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Dr Keith Mitchell of Grenada.

In its report, the panel charged that the governance of West Indies cricket has failed to evolve in a manner which is in accordance with the exigencies of the modern game, but continues to be governed by a structure that is not reflective of the transformation of the game elsewhere.

The panel also called for a radically new approach to restoring the fortunes of the game, and argued that the issues confronting the governance and administration of cricket exceed the dynamics of what happens on the field of play and its effect on the psyche of Caribbean people.

But in its response, the WICB said the panel made statements and conclusions related to structure and governance while ignoring the sweeping changes that have been made in both areas since 2002.

The WICB also said that the panel arrived at its conclusions without interviewing any of the presidents or members of the territorial boards. Neither were the independent directors of the board interviewed by the panel.

“This failure to consult with a representative variety of local cricket administrators and operators meant, or had the consequence of denying the panel a full opportunity of ascertaining the key facts,” the WICB said. “This has caused or triggered findings and recommendations by the panel which are not supported by the facts.”

The WICB outlined the changes it has made since 2000, stating that while the adjustments are geared at creating the conditions for the medium- to long-term improvement of West Indies Cricket and player performance, they do not appear to have been considered by the panel.

“The dissolution of the board is simply not a viable legal or practical option and carries a major financial risk which the panel either ignored or was unaware of,” the WICB said, and expressed “deep regret” that the panel “found it necessary to make such an unnecessary and intrusive demand”.

The WICB said, though, that its rejection of the recommendations does not mean that it doesn’t recognise the need for further change. As such, it listed a number of measures that it intends to implement.

(Read full text of the WICB response at www.jamaicaobserver.com)