Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow has doubled down on his commitment to governance reform, despite significant resistance from the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA).
The two territorial boards failed to attend a crucial meeting earlier this month to vote on implementing proposed reforms, stalling progress on modernising CWI’s governance structure.
Shallow, while acknowledging the challenge of achieving consensus among all stakeholders, emphasised the importance of reform.
“There is a shared commitment from CWI to continue to champion governance reform. Part of that is for us to sensitise our stakeholders, our territorial boards included, to strengthen their own governance structure,” Shallow declared during the CWI’s quarterly press conference on Monday.
The December 6 meeting was convened to address the adoption of key recommendations from the Wehby Report, drafted by Jamaican business mogul Don Wehby, which seeks to introduce term limits, adjust term durations for leadership positions, and enhance the overall governance framework. The absence of the GCB and BCA prevented the meeting from reaching a quorum and, as such, forced its adjournment.
According to Shallow, the no-show of the two territorial boards has created a significant roadblock in advancing reforms that have otherwise gained widespread support across the region.
“I can safely say all the territorial boards that attended the meeting on the sixth of December were in full support of governance reform,” Shallow noted.
“The independent directors as well are also in support of governance reform. We have had several meetings and consultations with different stakeholders as well. The Prime-Ministerial Sub Committee on Cricket… are champions of such change, and we will continue to make efforts in that regard,” he added
Both the GCB and BCA have expressed concerns about the proposed reforms, with the BCA advocating for a rotational policy for leadership.
However, Shallow explained that this proposal had already been reviewed and dismissed through established processes.
“We have a governance committee chaired by Arjoon Ramlal, one of our directors, and those recommendations from Barbados, including the rotational policy for leadership, have gone through the process and have been rejected. It came to the board again and was rejected again. So, this has not found favour. In fact, it is just a minority that has been advocating for this,” Shallow revealed.
That said, Shallow remains steadfast in his efforts to bring the GCB and BCA into alignment with the rest of the region.
“This is a case of continued effort, and we are going to continue to sensitise those two members who are clearly not in full alignment with the rest of the shareholders. We will continue to do whatever it takes to onboard them with governance reform,” Shallow ended. (SportsMax)
