Vincentian wants a bigger voice

Veteran Vincentian administrator Lennox John says he is not part of any team with Trinidadian Willie Rodriguez in next month’s elections simply to fill the two top positions at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

In an interview here at the weekend, John made it clear his priority in accepting the nomination to vie for the post of vice-president of the WICB in the July 12-13 elections in Dominica, is to provide the Windward Islands with a bigger voice in Caribbean cricket. “I am really going to it so that I can strengthen the case for the smaller countries in the Windward Islands. It may sound insular but I think you need to have the voice of the Windward Islands at the level of the executive at West Indies cricket. That is one of my main tasks,” John said.“There is a lot of decision-making that goes on at the level of the executive that we have not been involved in and I think I would like to see the Windward Islands more involved in decision-making at that level,” added John.

John, who is president of the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control (WICBC), has been a WICB representative for two decades but believes there is a need for greater representation among the Eastern Caribbean countries. “It could well be that we should’ve had a constitution which expanded the executive to a representative from each territory because most of the decisions in recent times seems to be have taken at the level of the executive,” John contended. John will be seeking to oust incumbent Val Banks of Anguilla from the post of vice-president while Guyanese businessman Chetram Singh and Trinidadian Rodriguez have been nominated to replace out-going president, Reverend Wes Hall, who is not seeking re-election because of health considerations. “I think what we are having here today is unique to West Indies cricket. I have no manifesto or anything like that. I accepted this nomination just two days ago. It is nothing that I was planning about, that I was going to be running for the vice-president because I am dissatisfied with this and I think I can do this.

“I don’t consider myself even to be running as a team. I have not had any discussions with Willie Rodriquez. I was approached by the Jamaicans to run for the post. I put it to my board and they  said yes, you should run,” John said as he gave the background to his throwing his hat in the vice-presidency race. “My Board was very keen for me to run because of the same reason that we need to have some representation at a higher level of West Indies cricket. I haven’t sat down and said, I am not happy with the vice-president of West Indies cricket and I want to run and go in there to make a bigger contribution. “It hasn’t come to that level yet. I am only running because of the simple reason that we feel we would like a bigger voice at West Indies cricket,” John reiterated. “That’s what my board has advised me. When the nominations came out, I had to apprise them of what the nominations were. The Jamaicans particularly said that they would like to nominate me and I have the acquiescence of my own fellow board member (Walter St John) and the rest of the Windwards Board. “They thought that it was a very good idea and that I should present myself as a candidate. I have their support. Personally, it’s nothing that I was aspiring to or anything. It is just that it has fallen on me and I have taken up the challenge on their behalf,” John remarked.