CC Mailbox: WICB and BSkyB

I have just found your website and I have to say am very sorry I have not come across it earlier. I would like to add my support to the fact that WICB abd BSkyB are in your doghouse, the reason is as follows.

I am a student studying a masters degree at City University in London. A significant part of this is my dissertation. At the beginning of the year (Jan 2002) I came up with what I thought (and my professor) would be a very interesting project. The project would have involved analysis of the use of the "official" WICB website.

As an aside I was born in Guyana and lived there for the first five years of my live, I am also a huge West Indian supporter. I saw this project as an excellent way to contribute to the development of the game in the Caribbean so I contacted the the WICB (via the site).

The reply was very polite and to a degree, very supportive. However I found out that BSkyB actually facilitated the site, they had signed a contract with the WCIB to do this. The lady that replied to my e-mail informed me of this and said that she had sent my request to do a project to Sky. I heard nothing back for several months and I contacted the WICB again only to find that they to had not had a reply from Sky. In the end, about six months later, I followed this up myself by calling Sky.

I did eventually get through to the person I needed to only to leave a message. I did not get a reply at all so called him again two days later. It turns out that he did get my message but obviously he did not even bother to respond to it. I explained my situation and proposed to him my idea and what I would need. The result was that he refused saying there was too much commercial information involved. What I had asked for was web logs in order to do an analysis the use of the site. I had not asked for anyone's time or about funding for it. I also explained that my motivations for doing this project.

All in all, I was pretty disgusted with the way that they had acted. The fact that I had to chase them down six months later, due to no prior response from them and also primarily because I had to submit a proposal for my dissertation. There also seems to be a lack of communication and accountability to the people that they should be working for the WICB.

It appears to me that rather than trying to develop the game in the Caribbean, their main motivation seems to be commercial.

I am therefore absolutely ecstatic to find that you have put them in the "the doghouse", which is where they should remain. I do appreciate that BSkyB has obviously provided money as a result of the contract they signed. I think however it is a disgrace that their interests are not directed towards the right areas.

Regards,
Dominic Warren