On Women and Cricket

Vaneisa Baksh, in her brilliant piece on the marginalisation of women in West Indies cricket, made a number of relevant and intriguing points.

From my perspective, I can summarize the key points specific to West Indies cricket as follows:

• Women, as a group, have been largely excluded for West Indies cricket despite having made major strides in the quest for gender equality;

• Generally, coaching programs do not cater for girls after the Kiddy Cricket stage. I say generally because there are important exceptions. However, this exclusion should not occur.

• Women?s cricket and cricket associations are under resourced.

• Sponsors are not lining up to support women's cricket.

• By its most recent actions, the WICB has again turned its back on women's cricket.

The WICB did indeed reject a recommendation from Ernst and Young (E&Y) that the West Indies Women Cricket Federation (WIWCF) become its 7th member in an interim period leading up to full integration. It must be noted that the E&Y report was a result of collaborative work involving the WIWCF, represented by Ann Brown-John and the WICB represented by myself and David Holford.

Instead the Board established an Integration Steering Committee (ISC), as a joint committee of the WICB and WIWCF to oversee and manage the integration process. Ms. Baksh's source distorts the recommendation of the ISC and the decision of the Board at its meeting in St. Maarten.

Before I correct this distortion, let me say a few words on Women's cricket. In world cricket, it is a little known fact that a woman pioneered over-arm bowling; picture a cricket match without over-arm bowling. Also, a group of housewives created the "Ashes" in 1882 which is still being contested to this day between England and Australia. The Women World Cup was held in 1973, two (2) years before the men?s world cup. Women have been playing cricket from the inception of the game and the first recorded all-women?s cricket match was in 1745 in England. In the West Indies, women have been playing cricket since the 1930s and first played test cricket in 1976 against Australia. So when we talk about developing women?s cricket, we are merely righting a historical wrong; we are not doing our women folk any special favours.

For too long Cricket has been a male dominated sport. Women have not only been left out of the game, they have also been largely left out of the administration of the game. There are very few women coaches, umpires and scorers. Yet female teachers dominate our school system and women are making significant inroads in other sports and in all walks of life. If West Indies Cricket is to regain its rightful place at the pinnacle of world cricket, we have to deal with these paradigm shifts. We have to involve more women in Cricket, train female teachers as coaches and encourage more girls to play cricket and generally eliminate the gender bias in this great sport.

The WICB Cricket Development Unit began this process under my leadership. The Kiddy Cricket program (Under-11 age group) caters for all genders; many female teachers are trained as Kiddy Cricket Coaches and teams are required to have a minimum number of girls. Coaching programs had been extended to female cricketers of which several have now been accredited. Girls were included in development camps and mini academies. Women cricket have been included in the training resources developed. These activities were all implemented well in advance of the ICC mandate to integrate women?s cricket. Granted, by the start of 2006 these initiatives had all but dried up for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

Integration Steering Committee

Let me turn now to the Integration Steering Committee. The ISC was established to investigate and recommend to the Board the preferred avenue for the integration of women?s cricket. The Committee?s terms of reference included, inter alia, a directive ?to develop a mechanism for the effective management by the WIWCF of women?s cricket at the regional and international levels prior to and after full integration at the territorial levels, with a clear definition of the relationships between men?s and women?s cricket?.

At its first meeting in June, 2005, the ISC agreed, among other decisions, "...that all WIWCF tournaments, including the senior tournament scheduled for Jamaica in August, now fall under the auspices of the WICB. However, the existing organisational and financial arrangements will continue until 2007?. (Emphasis mine). In other words, it was always the position of the ISC that the WIWCF would continue to exist in terms of its continued role in the ?organisational and financial arrangements? for tournaments.

At its meeting in St. Maarten in August 2005, the West Indies Cricket Board approved the ISC report and agreed as follows:

1. Technical resources, particularly marketing and development would be made available to Women?s Cricket.

2. Members should effect integration by June 30th, 2006 latest.

3. Future women?s tournaments will be held under the auspices of the WICB.

4. Consideration will be given to the implication of establishing a separate Cricket Committee for Women?s Cricket in the soon to be proposed WICB committee restructuring and there was a general agreement to the concept of creating the position of Development Officer (Women) within the Development Unit.

5. The ISC will continue to drive the process of integration through discussions with Territorial Boards.

Contrary to Ms. Baksh?s assertions, the Board never established the Cricket Committee for Women (CCW) and did not receive then, or since, any recommendations for the constitution of this Committee. What transpired is that Mrs. Brown-John, a representative of the WIWCF on the ISC, hand-picked the CCW members. The WIWCF was not consulted and the ISC never met to ratify these names. This Committee was therefore ultra vires and reported to no one. A Committee of the Board can be established only after the terms of reference for the Committee has been approved and nominations considered; this process has not occurred.

Two events occurred that caused the President of the WIWCF to, correctly so, raise concerns about the process. Firstly, the Federation received bogus reports on the recommendations of the ISC and the subsequent decisions of the Board to the effect that the WICB is fully in control of Women?s cricket and, by implication, the WIWCF no longer exists; these reports were at variance to public pronouncements by the WICB and contrary to the principle upon which the ISC was established.

Secondly, the former CEO Roger Brathwaite issued two (2) contrasting letters; the first accurately reflecting the decision of the Board and the second, issued within days of the first, contradicting the first letter and misrepresenting the minuted decision of the Board. These shenanigans only served to sew the seeds of discord and mistrust and, in my opinion, could only further embarrass the WICB so soon after a bruising battle on the Digicel sponsorship.

I had found it difficult to understand the indecent haste by some to dissolve the Women?s Federation. Their continued existence does not conflict with the mandate given to the WICB. After all, we have WIPA and the Umpires Association looking after the interest of their constituency; why can?t the Federation continue to look after the interest of its constituency? The explanation of this indecent haste may very well rest in the efforts of the Federation to secure administrative and financial accountability for events leading up to and subsequent to the Women Cricket World Cup 2005.

Unsung Heroes and Obscured Villains

Ms. Baksh showers accolades on Mrs. Ann Brown-John, many of which are deserved. Mrs. Brown-John has made an immense contribution to the development of women?s cricket, but so have many others. By singling out one person, we ignore the cumulative effort of the Women Federation and the support of the WICB Development Unit between 2001 and 2005. The leadership of the WIWCF must be complimented for their unrelenting advocacy and other efforts on behalf of their constituency. In addition, not only Trinidad and Tobago, but integration is well advanced in Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St Vincent among other territories; we must recognize the leadership being demonstrated in these territories.

The fact remains that the WIWCF was not well represented on the ISC; by extension the image of the WICB suffered. The body was constantly misled for personal, selfish motives that could only damage the development of women?s cricket. Along the way, little concern was given to the welfare of others and deceit and dishonesty took on new meaning. We have a saying in Guyana that ?you get too big for your boots?. When this happens, people and events are manipulated to serve narrow self-interest. When you represent an organisation, you must do so with integrity and decorum; sadly these qualities were lacking. Whenever your personal interest conflicts with the organizational interest, you must resign or be removed.

The Way Forward for Women?s Cricket

Meaningful integration of women?s cricket will be an uphill task. Decades of gender bias have to be dealt with. We need committed personnel at the WICB and a strong and vibrant Women?s Federation. We need less talk and more action. We need our male leadership to understand that the development of male and female cricket is not mutually exclusive and that society demands equity in the allocation of resources. We need a time-bound, transparent and inclusive process. The following is an eight (8) point pathway:

1. A vibrant and aggressive ISC.

2. Close collaboration with the WIWCF, the only organisation empowered to look after the interest of women cricket and cricketers.

3. Effective representation, of the region, at the ICC level.

4. Accountability at all levels of the process.

5. Implementation by the Board of the ISC recommendations particularly as regards integration at the territorial levels and availing WICB resources to women?s cricket.

6. Aggressive efforts to fund women?s cricket. Since all women?s cricket fall under the auspices of WICB, does this imply that women?s cricket could benefit from existing sponsorship?

7. Inclusion of women in WICB decision making, that is, at the Board and Committee levels.

8. WIPA, UWI and other bodies should embrace women?s cricket.

In conclusion, this rejoinder is not written for the purpose of defending the WICB but merely to set the record straight. As Chief Cricket Development Officer, I have tried to do a small part; perhaps I could have done more. But I believe that, notwithstanding very limited resources and a less than friendly environment, I have done my fair share and I will continue to do what I can. It is now up to all of us to ensure that the continued marginalization of women in cricket in corrected forthwith.

* Michael Seepersaud served as chief cricket development officer of the West Indies Cricket Board from 2001-2005.