The Next WICB Boss...

Over the next few weeks, there will be great contemplation as to which of William (Willie) Rodriguez, of Trinidad & Tobago, or Chetram (Chetty) Singh, of Guyana, would replace the Rev. Wes Hall as President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

This probably the most massive position in the Caribbean at this time, the respective Prime Ministers and Presidents notwithstanding, especially with the 2007 Cricket World Cup on the horizon. Both men have their merits and demerits, and personally, both have, in some way, positively affected my own cricketing life, so my vote does not count; null and void.

Quite frankly, Willie easily has the better sporting pedigree. While only 252 people of the almost seven million have so far played for the West Indies Test cricket team, Willie is the only person that I know of who has played both cricket and soccer (football) at the highest representative level for teams representing the West Indies. (Sir) Viv Richards has of course played cricket for the West Indies, and he has played soccer for a "select" West Indies team, but I think that you would agree with me in saying that, in this case, Willie has the leading edge.

Apart from being a tremendous all-rounder, in every sense of the word; Willie actually opened batting for the West Indies, while bowling his leg-breaks; Willie has been, in my mind, the best Team Manager that the West Indies team has had in the 70's and 80's, and maybe even to date. He is the first Manager in our history to actually suggest that his players musttravel first class, and afforded the trappings of professional sportsmen, especially the taller ones like Clive Lloyd, Mike Holding, Joel Garner and yours truly.

Willie was also the inspirational manager when the West Indies Cricket Team beat Australia in Australia for the first time in history, in 1979-80. The guy looked after his players as no-one else has before or since, and was and always will be special to that specific West Indies Cricket Team. I am very proud to have had him as a Manager and he will always be a great friend.

In business, Willie has done very well for the Guardian Insurance Company, even running his own agency and by now, nearing retirement from that facet of his life, being a mega-manager. He is a businessman extraordinaire and that would greatly enhance his stature, especially the nature of the business.

But, there are two things that would stand out against Willie.

He has been President of the Queens Park Cricket Club (QPCC) for approximately seven years, and though he has publicly suggested that he is "all for admitting female members into the club," the fact remains that the Queens Park Cricket Club has NO female members to date. In the year 2003, when even the real Mecca of cricket, the Lord's Cricket Ground, and the Marylebone Cricket Club, have done some years ago, one wonders how far in the dark ages could the members of the QPCC be not to have any female members.

This is no small matter, I promise you. It could come back to haunt Trinidad & Tobago and its cricket fraternity, not to mention the QPCC itself. If you did not know, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has actually publicly decreed that women must be a fully supported faculty in the game of cricket at large.

In other words, they are not advocating, but demanding, that women be fully represented in all facets of international cricket, including club membership, even though some of those clubs, like the QPCC, are privately run entities.

Another irony to this is that the West Indies actually has a "Women's" cricket team, and presently, the women's cricket tournament is being played in Grenada with females representing the different territories.

Further, it has been openly suggested in cricketing circles, from the very top to the man in the street, that if the QPCC does not change its policy on women very quickly, not only will it not get the final of the 2007 World Cup, something it would be fully in the running for, but worse, even with the fact that it probably will hold 40,000 when all of the refurbishments are completed, not one single game would be played there. Now, if that is not cause for worry, then nothing is. Willie must change that, and in a hurry.

The other obstacle, if it can be called that, is that Willie, while being a major manager and all of the rest, has not really been involved, in recent times, to any great extent in West Indies cricket matters. Of course, there are those who would suggest that this is a "good" thing, since the WICB has been operating like Wile E. Cayote, the born-loser cartoon character, when he tries to catch the Road Runner, making mistake after infernal mistake. With his cricketing pedigree and business acumen, maybe Willie will be the man for all cricketing seasons and the region too.

Chetram Singh and I come from the same village in Guyana. That village, Unity-Lancaster, with about 2,000 people overall, has produced, to date, two Test cricketers; Shiv Chanderpaul being the other; plus Chetram Singh, who is the President of the Guyana Cricket Board and has been such since 1992, and has also produced another President, the present President of the Republic of Guyana, Bharat Jagdeo. Hey, that is something to be proud of too, since I doubt that any village anywhere in the world could counter that boast.

Against Chetram Singh, so the stories go, would be his supposed involvement in the fiasco that has been the WICB during the reign of the just past president Pat Rousseau. To some in the know, Chetram Singh is one of the status quo, having been on the WICB for eons, and for that, many are suggesting that "anyone could be better than he is for the post." That is not my opinion, mind you, but it has been mentioned by some of very high standing in the cricket fraternity.

One of Chetty's positives is that he has brought Guyana?s cricket out of the doldrums and the dark ages to the point that Guyana's Youth teams, Under 15 and Under 19, and its senior teams, Red Stripe Bowl and Busta Cup/Carib Trophy teams, have been almost always in the finals of any competition over the last ten years. That is truly great leadership, I can tell you, despite the sometimes archaic situations that are both Guyana's and West Indies cricket.

Business-wise, Chetty has proved to be just as astute as Willie, and perhaps is just as solvent; rich, that is; but his business, horse-racing/book-making, is much less revered than the insurance business, even though, to me, they are "six of one and half a dozen of the next." Both take money from people's pockets that almost always will never be returned to them.

Another thing that may affect Chetty negatively, despite its great attributes, is that he is a very down-to-earth person, who, at least to my mind, finds it difficult to be anything but down-to-earth. To be honest, despite his being my great friend, his great personality and his achievements, Willie is still seen by many as one of the last set of "throw-backs" in T&T who started "with money", because of their heritage, and simply accumulated more, because of the opportunities which they may have had, opportunities that may not have been always available to many others of lesser stock.

Both men have their positives and maybe negatives. Both will certainly do well for West Indies cricket, and both have already done their parts, on and off of the field of play, for the region. The choice is yours, or ours, I guess. Horses off!!