Lequay wants cricket partnership

BRIAN LARA made a mistake by not accepting the West Indies Cricket Board’s offer to be picked on the side to play in the First Test against the touring South African cricketers at the end of the month. The world double record holder for batting should oblige and then approach the WICB on behalf of the other players who were sidelined and negotiate for them in an official capacity, to come up with the strongest team. This is the opinion of outspoken Alloy Lequay, Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board. “If I were Lara I would have accepted not for Lara’s sake but for the sake of the other players.  I would be putting myself in a position to make representation on their behalf. I would want to talk to the West Indies Board on behalf of the other players to bring everybody back on the team,” Lequay said.

“By staying outside does not give him the opportunity as if he were going in as West Indies captain. Now he can’t call for any meeting as he has no status, not even as a player,” he said. In commenting on the regional cricket situation, the experienced sports administrator called for a restructuring programme to include “a partnership of all stakeholders in decision-making.” Lequay said that his submission was part of recommendations made in June 2001  at a Caricom/UWI Conference held in Barbados among which were:

-That cricket is the principal expression of the  people’s cultural heritage  and that all structural relations responsible for its governance embrace this philosophy;
- That partnership and inclusion of all stakeholders be the basis of all management principles and decision-making;
-And that the composition of the West Indies Cricket Board  reflect effective partnership and inclusion of all stakeholders. Lequay said that as president of then TT Cricket Board of Control in 1992, he presented a paper  on  “Now and in the Future of West Indies Cricket”  and pointed out that the WICB’s Constitution needed to be reviewed  and expanded as the WICB did not appear to recognise their responsibility, having failed “to capture the West Indian ethos.”

In May 2000, Lequay said he was part of a committee that designed an Immediate Action Plan while he was contesting the post of president of the  WICB and this recommended a review of the Articles of Association. This included a clause “to widen the vision of the WICB by making available individuals from the West Indian communities whose ideas can contribute significantly to West Indies cricket development and to hold discussions  with the West Indies Players’ Association  on an expanding role beyond the narrow confines of players’ contract negotiations.” “To minimise if not prevent the recurrent crises in West Indies Cricket we must start with constitutional reform and an expansion of the executive of the board to include individuals with no-voting rights drawn from UWI, the Caribbean Chambers of Commerce, the Caribbean Press Association,  and two other relevant organisations.”

Lequay said there should also be a voice and vote on the board for the Players’ Association to establish a partnership between both, towards the advancement of the people’s game — cricket. He made the comparison of people sitting in one church praying to one God, the only difference is that they are sitting in different pews. “We have to hold hands together in the church  and as we raise our voices in song, there must be unison of purpose and thought as we praise the Lord above,” Lequay said. “So let it be with cricket. We have to swim together, if not it will be like a tsunami  in the Caribbean.”