Administrative Goof Knocks WICB Site Offline

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has lost e-mail contact with the outside world because of an administrative screw-up that caused the domain name registration for the WindiesCricket.com Web site to expire last week.

Cricket fans logging on to the WICB's official site for news on the team's performance during the first two ODIs against Australia were greeted with a blank page (Screenshot) because someone forgot to renew the registration of the URL.

has learned that the job of hosting and maintaining the WindiesCricket.com site is handled by WorldNet Concepts Ltd., an Antigua-based technology company hired by the WICB.

The domain name expired on May 10, 2003 and because WorldNet Concepts forgot to renew it, the site disappeared from cyberspace immediately. At press time at 3:10 p.m EST on Monday, the Web site was still unavailable although a source said the registration renewal process was being "straightened out."

Indeed, an investigation showed the registration was renewed for another three years but this was only updated on May 19, a full 10 days after it expired. Sources say WorldNet Concepts technicians were scrambling on Monday to get the site back online.

More worrisome is the fact that all WICB employees have been without electronic mail for a full week. (Remote employees like team coach Gus Logie, manager Ricky Skerritt and other officials travelling with the team rely on Web-based e-mail access).

E-mails sent to the @windiescricket.com address have bounced back to the sender, meaning that it's possible that many important e-mail missives sent to the organisation in charge of administering cricket in the Caribbean region have been lost forever.

Observers say it is unforgivable for a major organisation like the WICB to have screwed up something as simple as renewing an Internet domain name and causing e-mail outage for an entire week.

Even as WICB officials are swiftly shifting the blame for the administrative bungling to WorldNet Concepts, it is another major black eye for Roger Brathwaite, the chief executive officer who was handpicked by the WICB directors to replace the fired Gregory Shillingford.

Brathwaite, who did not have to apply for the CEO job, committed the first major goof while only days on the job when he badly misjudged the strength of the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA). His decision to break off pay raise negotiations and publicly belittle the WIPA for producing "unsigned and illegible" membership forms led to the first players' strike in the history of West Indies cricket.

Brathwaite was also involved in the premature announcement of Australian Bennett King as the desired head coach before contract negotiations had begun. Immediately after that, his staff failed to make proper travel arrangements for the West Indies team, causing the players to arrive in Guyana for the first Test at the very last minute.

Brathwaite was also involved in the decision to postpone the semi-finals and finals of the Carib Beer first class competition to accommodate the visiting India 'A' team, who arrived late for the tournament through their own fault. The rescheduling forced a major clash between the Carib Beer finals and the Double Wicket World Cup, causing Chris Gayle to get himself involved in a situation where he had to make a choice of which match to play.

Before that, he was also criticised for announcing a pay raise agreement with WIPA when none existed and for failing to make proper arrangements for the sale of the West Indies clothing at the World Cup in South Africa.