WICB Announces Board Decisions

At the WICB members' and Directors' meetings held in Barbados on Thursday 13th July 2006, a number of key decisions were taken in relation to Constitutional Amendments, audited accounts, appointment of non-member Directors, election of selection panel for a new two year term, matters related to statements made by the Captain at the end of the 2006 Home Series in Jamaica, marketing and fund raising initiatives, and the domestic schedule of matches.

The members of WICB approved amendments to its Constitution to provide for:

i. Hearing and determining complaints and charges made against any Director, Officer, Player or Official of the Board involving breaches of Bye-Laws or Rules (including any Code of Ethics adopted by the Board for good governance) and provisions for the imposition of fines or penalties thereto.

ii. The election of an additional four (4) non-member directors by the member directors of the Board including the qualifications to be a non-member director. Non-member Directors are not drawn from the member Boards but are persons with outstanding achievements in their respective fields of endeavour.

iii. The election or removal of the President and Vice President.

NEW DIRECTORS

Following the Special Meeting of members at which the constitutional amendments were passed, the Directors' Meeting approved the appointments of Sir Alister McIntyre and Messrs Clive Lloyd and Grenville Phillips as Directors with full voting rights. Their term will be until the next annual general meeting of the Board.

NEW SELECTION PANEL

Mr. Gordon Greenidge was appointed as the new Chairman of the Selection panel. The other members appointed are Messrs Clyde Butts and Andy Roberts. They have been appointed for a two year term. The Board recognized the outstanding service of Mr. Michael 'Joey' Carew, ex-Convenor of Selectors who declined to be nominated and expressed its appreciation of his contribution to West Indies cricket in his role as a selector over an expanded period for almost three decades.

UNDER-19 TOURNAMENT

The Board also approved the hosting of the TCL Under 19 Regional Championships in Guyana from August 6-31 with the tournament featuring a three day format covering five (5) rounds of matches followed by a showpiece final between the top two teams.

The Board also approved the developmental tour by Sri Lanka A team to the West Indies in October 2006.

RETAINER CONTRACTS

Recommendations from the panel of Selectors and the Cricket Committee for the offer of retainer contracts were also approved. The following seven players will be offered Retainer Contracts:

i. Brian Lara
ii. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
iii. Ramnaresh Sarwan
iv. Chris Gayle
v. Corey Collymore
vi. Fidel Edwards
vii. Denesh Ramdin

Mr. Dwayne Bravo was also considered for inclusion, but it was decided that it would be inappropriate to offer a retainer contract to Mr. Bravo, in view of the recent personal endorsement contract that he has entered into with the principal competitor of Digicel, WICB's major sponsor. This will not preclude Mr. Bravo from selection on the West Indies team which can be on the basis of a match tour contract.

An eighth player will be announced shortly.

BRIAN LARA INVESTIGATION

The Board also considered at length the recent statements and actions of Mr. Brian Lara during and after the conclusion of the fourth Test match versus India at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica.

It was agreed to appoint a committee headed by the President of the WICB, together with Sir Alister Mc Intyre and Messrs Clive Lloyd and Gregory Shillingford to investigate all matters relating to Mr. Lara's statements and to take such action as they may consider appropriate after these matters are discussed with him.

Mr. Lara is currently away from the Caribbean, but it is expected that the committee will meet with him within the next two weeks.