By Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - SportRECENTLY-ELECTED West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Teddy Griffith reaffirmed his hopes that preparations for the 2007 World Cup are on solid footing and for the regional team to be among the world's best by 2005.
He made the remarks during a speech at the Melbourne Cricket Club's (MCC) annual awards presentation dinner at its Derrymore Road, St. Andrew home on Saturday night.
Barbadian Griffith, a former president of the Jamaican club dubbed the Kangaroos, said by the end of his tenure in 2005 he expected the region to be at least 60 per cent prepared to host the 2007 World Cup and that he also wanted to see the West Indian team sitting in the top three of the world Test rankings.
The same ambitions were stated when he assumed the region's premier cricket post in late September but he went into greater detail on a night which saw club president Tony Becca, former senior sport editor of The Gleaner, acclaimed for his contributions to the game.
ON TRACK TO MAKE A FISCAL LOSS
Guest speaker Griffith, while lamenting the state of the WICB's coffers and claiming over the next two years the board was on track to make a fiscal loss after two years of profit, said he was determined to see preparations for the historic 2007 World Cup in full flight within two years.
"As a socio-political structure, there is no other institution in what we call the English-speaking Caribbean, which has a longer or more profound influence on the fortunes and self-respect of our people than West Indies cricket," Griffith said in his opening remarks.
"The signing (of the World Cup host agreement) between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the WICB heralded the start of a journey from symbolism to reality," he said.
"Now is the time for performance and delivery, not for talking. The WICB is approaching the hosting of the World Cup with the utmost seriousness and resolve. My own personal goal during the period of my incumbency is to attain a minimum of 60 per cent state readiness for the Cup.
"The 2007 World Cup is to be a Caribbean event with a distinctive Caribbean flavour and my aid is to deliver maximum economic returns consistent with cricketing objectives to the benefit of all the Caribbean countries, particularly, the 2007 World Cup and to leave a legacy by means of which the future of West Indies cricket, its infrastructure and its development can be maintained post 2007."
The current situation of West Indian cricket at the national and international levels were also of concern for Griffith who was urged by fellow speaker Jackie Hendriks, the president of the Jamaica Cricket Association, in an earlier speech, to appropriate more funds to clubs.
Griffith made a promise of support to the clubs but said of the regional side: "The second of my personal goals is to have, by the time my tenure is done - is to have the West Indies rated in the top three of one-day and Test cricket.
COMPREHENSIVE CRICKET DEVELOPMENT PLAN
"We need a functional, professional administrative structure to co-ordinate and execute a comprehensive cricket development plan to be complemented by the West Indies' resources."
Meanwhile, in the Melbourne nest, Hendriks said the Jamaica Cricket Board had no say in the dismissal of the club's Robert Samuels from the national squad for the coming regional four-day Carib Beer series.
The national captain, a notable absentee from proceedings, did not warrant making the 26-man squad, according to selectors.
"Neither the JCB or myself have ever interfered in the deliberations of the Jamaican selectors," Hendriks said. "They are free to select anyone they consider is good enough to play for Jamaica.
"The selectors recommend a candidate for the captaincy to the board and, to date, we have received no recommendation for the coming Carib Beer series.
"Therefore, certain conclusions that have been drawn are completely erroneous."
