Legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd says he is “deliriously happy” with the election of Ricky Skerritt as the new president of Cricket West Indies.
The 74-year-old, who had public endorsed Skerritt for the top spot, said the regional governing body needed someone with the former St Kitts and Nevis government minister’s qualities in order to protect cricket’s precious heritage in the Caribbean and to also oversee the Windies resurgence internationally.
“I know Ricky quite well. I think we need a change,” said Lloyd, credited for molding the great West Indies side of the 1970s and 80s.
“The point is the presidency is something .. you have to believe in. You have to believe … our cricket is very important. Two of our most important institutions in the West Indies are our cricket and the University of the West Indies. Those two things have worked well in the past and can continue to work well in the future.
“We need to have people with clear thinking and who will want to improve our sports, and I’m talking about sports in general. Cricket is probably just one of the main things, but we have a lot of talented people in the West Indies.
“We need to have people who will lead and who are not looking at any monetary gains, who will look to promote sports and promote something that we have excelled at for a long time. We have a lot to be proud of … and I’m sure that Ricky and Dr Shallow will try and maintain [that heritage] and try and get us back to the top.”
Skerritt stunned three-term incumbent president Dave Cameron 8-4 at CWI elections during the annual general meeting last Sunday in Jamaica.
Dr Kishore Shallow, president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association, also beat incumbent vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan by a similar margin.
During the campaign, Skerritt and Shallow elicited support from legends such as Lloyd, Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Andy Roberts, and also gained the backing of two-time T20 World Cup-winning skipper, Darren Sammy.
Lloyd said he now hoped to see cricket development which incorporated the use of the academy and the universities throughout the region.
“Let’s use them to get our players up to speed, not only with sport but thinking about the game. When they get in front of a camera they don’t freeze and are able to express themselves,” Lloyd explained on the Mason and Guest cricket radio show here.
“So there are a lot of things we need to do but the most important thing is to get our coaches singing from the same hymn book.”
