Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
WEST INDIAN cricket is passing through some rough times - so rough that the West Indies team for the series in Sri Lanka will be without 10 of its best players.
Also, the West Indies will play only three Test matches in Australia and if the next ICC Champions Trophy tournament was being played now, the West Indies, once the most powerful team in the world, would have to compete with the likes of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in order to qualify.
For those who do not know, the West Indies in Sri Lanka will be without the likes of Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds because of a conflict between the board and the players association.
They will be playing three Test matches in Australia and none in Melbourne or Sydney because they are no longer what they used to be, and with a new format now in place, with only the top six teams gaining automatic qualification, they would have to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy because they are ranked No. 8 in the ICC's one-day rankings.
If that is not enough proof that West Indies cricket is passing through some rough times, there is another one. The board, it appears, cannot find a president.
Following on the recent decision by Teddy Griffith not to seek re-election as president of the board after one term, West Indies cricket is looking for a new president and the new president will be elected at the general meeting on August 7.
ONE NOMINATION RECEIVED
The problem, however, is that although the meeting, originally set for the middle of June, was postponed to accommodate nominations, even though the deadline for nomination is only a few days away, only one nomination was received up to Friday.
According to the constitution of the board, every nomination must have a seconder, and although Clive Lloyd has been nominated by Guyana, according to members of the board, so far the only one in the contest, the only one who has fulfilled the requirements, is Ken Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago.
Unless things change over the next few days, it means that Gordon will not be challenged as the next president of the Board, and although there is nothing wrong with that, although it has happened in the past, this time it would underline the problems of West Indies cricket.
As good a businessman as he may be, if Gordon, a man without even a passing interest in the game, wins the presidency unopposed, it would show, beyond a doubt, that something is really wrong with West Indies cricket - just as the fact that not one board member has come forward to contest the position, that no one is calling for one of them to go for it, is an indictment against the members of the board.
What is going on in West Indies cricket - the fact that there is not a board member good enough to be the president, that only one man has been nominated and seconded - may well be the reason why the West Indies team will not be at full strength in Sri Lanka, why the West Indies have been reduced to three Test matches in Australia with none at the MCG or the SCG, and why, next time around, they will have to qualify, along with Bangladesh, for a place in the ICC Champions Trophy.
There may well be a good reason, however, why there are not more contenders for the presidency of the West Indies Cricket Board.
It is quite possible that with all the recent problems between the board and the players association, with all the controversy surrounding the sponsorship deal between the board and its main sponsors, no one wants to be in the hot seat.
