Rousseau warns WICB against Singh

FORMER WEST Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Pat Rousseau has warned that regional cricket will be plunged into a state of crisis if, as expected, Guyana’s Chetram Singh is elected president by the executive committee today. Singh is the only nominee for the post being vacated by Rev. Wes Hall but would be unable to sit on any International Cricket Council (ICC) committee or even enter the West Indies’ dressing rooms due to the fact he is a bookmaker in his South American homeland. The ICC’s code of conduct forbids such access to people associated with gambling. Rousseau, in a letter to The Gleaner, said: “The executive committee of the West Indies Cricket Board is about to plunge West Indies cricket into the worst crisis it has faced and will cause serious long-term damage to our beloved game and to our administration. “The election of Chetram Singh ... by the executive committee will cause major damage to the reputation of the WICB leading up to and beyond the 2007 World Cup. “I have known Chetram Singh for many years and I regard him as a friend and I am writing this in the spirit of friendship and because of my paramount interest in West Indies cricket,” the Jamaican continued. “ ... the board members have little choice but to vote against the election of Chetram Singh this weekend and achieve a majority vote against his appointment.

“The question I have to ask is? Are these gentlemen, Wes Hall, Val Banks, Richard DeSouza, Stephen Alleyne and Chetram Singh himself, interested enough in West Indies cricket to avoid the damage or is their only interest their desire to continue to control the WICB? “I know as a fact that Stephen Alleyne was reminded of the ICC’s position re Singh when he attended the ICC annual conference a couple of weeks ago. I am sure the Rev. Wes Hall is fully aware of the ICC structure and must consider the situation he is about to put the WICB into at the ICC. Is the Rev. Wes Hall armed with this knowledge going to vote for Singh or like Pontius Pilot, wash his hands of the whole affair?” He also said: “I cannot believe that the ambition of Chetram Singh is so all-powerful and illogical that he would occupy a prestigious post and be unable to fulfil his international obligations. To be viewed by the international governing body as a ‘pariah’ because of the exclusion, can only diminish his post not only at the ICC but in the West Indies and will not be to his credit. “Even if some of his colleagues can only see the opportunity to attend the ICC as the fulfilment of their ambitions, Chetram Singh should look beyond them at the bigger picture and do the correct thing by withdrawing as a candidate for the post of president before any election takes place on Saturday. Only by this action will the West Indian fan and history remember him favourably. I appeal to him to do the honourable thing.” Singh became the sole nominee for the post after Trinidad’s Willie Rodriguez, who it appears would have been endorsed by Jamaica and at least one other member WICB country, withdrew his candidacy earlier this month.