Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago warns squabbles between leaders in the Caribbean over West Indies cricket could shatter CARICOM.
Rowley expressed surprise that West Indies cricket was not included on the agenda at the recently concluded heads of government meeting in Grenada.
“The subject has become one that threatens our very unity among us on the table.” Rowley said he tried unsuccessfully to have the struggles of the regional Test team put on the meeting agenda. “Not a single person leading our territories joined me. As a result, there was no comment on West Indies cricket,” Rowley said, during a radio interview. He said without a unified approach by Caribbean leaders “CARICOM is losing sight of what really should be happening,” in regional Test cricket.
Gaston Browne opposes Rowley’s view
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne defended his government’s position. He insisted his country as a policy of not interfering “in the internal affairs of institutions and governments.”
Browne, in a statement to the media said the governance of West Indies cricket “appears to be an evocative romanticism of a particular Caribbean head.” The West Indies Cricket board operates independent of governments. Brown alleges “a particular (Caribbean) head is of the view “that with my support and other heads that he could achieve his compulsive, obsessive desire to dissolve the board.”
WI cricket woes increase
West Indies cricket has been on a downward spiral for years. Things recently became worse after the ICC T20 world cup in India, Victorious West Indies captain Darren Sammy lambasted the WI board during the trophy presentation ceremony. Since then, a number of senior players have been left out of the regional team’s line up for tests, one-day internationals, and T20 formats of the game.
Copyright 2017 – Caribbean National Weekly News
