Andy Roberts: Hunte, Hilaire should resign immediately

West Indies bowling legend Andy Roberts has called on president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Julian Hunte and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ernest Hilaire to resign if cricket in the Caribbean is to move forward.

Roberts' plea came after the West Indies surrendered the One-Day International series to Pakistan on Thursday at Kensington Oval, Barbados coupled with the introduction of a questionable selection policy, the treatment of former captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and other experienced players and the spiralling performance of the regional team.

"The West Indies Cricket Board right now is taking our cricket backwards. We need people at the board who have the interest of cricket at heart and who can plan for cricket development. I think the president and the CEO are in the wrong place. They are in the wrong place at the wrong time....that is my personal feeling," said an irritated Roberts in a telephone interview.

He felt that several WICB directors must also accept blame with the president and CEO for the poor state of West Indies cricket and must step down to allow the revival of West Indies cricket.
"The directors are not different, the directors are just following. Some of these directors are just happy to go along with whatever is happening. They need to go, some of the directors need to go because some of them are useless," Roberts said.

He added, "The president is just keeping the board members happy, so the board members keep him there. The board members are also kept happy, so they see no reason why (to change anything). They are satisfied with what is going on. I don't think it matters to them."

The former West Indies Chairman of Selectors disagreed when asked if president Hunte who has over a quarter century of cricket administration experience and CEO Hilaire have taken an unconventional approach to changing West Indies cricket for the better. "To change what way? To change for the worse? Because that is all they are going to do. Any change they make is not for the better, it is for the worse. They have made a number of changes so far and none of these changes have improved the cricket at all," Roberts added.

The former West Indies pacer cited the decision and manner to axe the experienced players after the ICC Cricket World Cup as a classic example that Hunte and Hilaire were clueless about what they were doing. "I think this is a poor decision and the way they go about doing it. Personally I don't have a problem if you tell Chanderpaul that he can't fit into the one-day plan because that is my personal thing. They should have said you are not going to fit into our one-day plan and this is just one-day," Roberts said.

"But with Chris (Gayle) and (Ramnaresh) Sarwan I think they went about it the wrong way too. You just can't pick a bunch of new players. What we need in order to win is confidence and nothing dents confidence more than losing, losing, losing. That is what is happening at present, we are just losing and we see no way out of this."

Roberts felt that Hilaire getting involved in cricketing decision such as the matters with Chanderpaul and Gayle is the clearest example of what is plaguing the progress of West Indies cricket.

"That is exactly where we are going in the wrong direction. Has that go anything to do with the CEO? Isn't that a playing matter? Isn't that a function for the coach? Or the captain? How did the CEO get involved in that? So probably the CEO is picking teams too."

"Of course this is out of place. Whether he is the Chief Executive Officer, yes or no, if he feels that way, if he sees something call in the coach and let the coach make that release. That shouldn’t be released from the CEO. I’ve never heard any CEO from around the world get involved in cricket like the way the West Indies CEO has. So it wouldn’t surprise me a lot if the CEO has a lot with Darren Sammy being captain and not the selectors.”

SOURCE: Trinidad Newsday.