WEST INDIES CRICKET NEWS

Ricky Skerritt appointed CWI president

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Skerritt defeated Dave Cameron by the margin of 8-4 in the election held at the Annual General Meeting. © Getty

Ricky Skerritt, the former Windies team manager, has been appointed president of Cricket West Indies, it was announced on Sunday (March 24). Skerritt acquired the required number of votes at the Annual General Meeting and beat Dave Cameron 8-4 to secure the win. Kishore Shallow also won his contest by the same margin to beat Emmanuel Nanthan to be appointed the vice president.

"I am humbled and deeply honoured to be elected as President. We pledge to work for improvement on and off the field for West Indies Cricket," Skerritt said after the election.

Cameron was appointed president in 2013 after he won against then president Julian Hunte and continued to hold the post since then. He was seeking a third term in the office having served two three-year terms. His tenure was marred with several controversies as the relationship between the board and the players often turned sour because of several issues.

He had several run-ins with senior cricketers - like Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy - and also played a key role in the wrongful termination of Windies head coach Phil Simmons in 2016. Several players, including Sammy and Dwayne Bravo, have questioned Cameron's approach and the board policies since the abandoned tour of India in 2014 and the World T20 triumph in 2016.

"We were glad to be able to serve and proud of our achievements," Cameron and Nanthan said in a joint statement. "We are happy that we left 123 players under contract. West Indies Cricket now has a home owned by the board at Coolidge Cricket Grounds (in Antigua).

"The world championships and bringing back the Wisden Trophy (which the men's team regained by beating England in a recent home Test series) are also other achievements that we are proud of."

Ahead of the election, Skerrit had stressed that Cameron's tenure had done significant damage to the board. "While I was team manager there was zero industrial unrest by players," he had said. "This period was a time when we were still winning more matches than we lost and players were still respected by the CWI leadership. Instead of making such unfounded and petty attacks on me I recommend that Mr Cameron hold audience with former players and ask about their experiences and existing relationships with me. But relationships with facts and truth apparently mean little to Cameron.

"If Cameron wants to talk about turmoil, perhaps he can explain why former head coaches, Ottis Gibson, Phil Simmons, and the several others who Cameron hastily and summarily dismissed, from both the men's and women's teams, have collectively cost CWI well over US $1m."

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