Warning that cricket in the Caribbean is in crisis

Grenada PM slams Windies board

Cricinfo staff

July 1, 2005

Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada and the chairman of the Caricom sub-committee on Cricket, has slammed what he described as "the level of insensitivity being displayed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in making decisions affecting the regional team."

Referring to the decision by the board to pick a second-string side for the tour of Sri Lanka after talks between it and the Players' Association (WIPA) broke down, Mitchell said he was not surprised by the move, but added that it seemed intent on taking cricket down a destructive path.

Mitchell continued to say that he had offered the WICB and WIPA a solution which would have protected the board's financial position and kept the players happy. However, he says the whole process was derailed.

He also warned that across the Caribbean the passion which people felt for the game was fading because of the perennial state of controversy. "If the people of the region cannot go to a game or listen to a match and see our best talent on display they will turn away.

"This game is too important to our people for it to remain in this terrible state because cricket is the one factor which binds the West Indian people together," he concluded, before urging his fellow leaders in the region to take note of the situation.

© Cricinfo

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