Becca: Lucky Hit WICB For Six
Sun, Sep 11, '05
When cricket supporters want to hear opinions about the situation in West Indies cricket, they know they can turn to the two most well known West Indian scribes - coincidentally both named Tony ? who have put pen to paper for over 30 years. While Tony Cozier has included a snippet of a comment this past weekend, for some fans, the silence from Tony Becca has been deafening, even incomprehensible.
Becca, the retired Sports Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, still writes two weekly columns for that publication. Each day, readers turn to the sports pages expecting to digest his opinion of the contents of the Lucky Report. But they will have to wait awhile longer.
In a wide ranging interview with CaribbeanCricket.com, to be published at a later date, the veteran sports journalist said that he has written so much about what has happened between the Board and WIPA, the Board and Cable & Wireless and the Board and Digicel. "People shouldn't criticize me for not writing anything more about it and writing about the Ashes series," said Becca.
In fact, it was a conscious decision taken not to comment yet on the findings of the committee established by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to investigate matters surrounding the sponsorship of West Indies cricket.
Having read the Lucky Report, Becca says he feels even more confused but offers a preliminary overall assessment of its contents. He said "the only thing the Lucky report says to me is that the Board was probably even more incompetent than I thought they were."
He also said that previously he was willing to share the blame between the Board and the players but with the details having emerged about the lack of accountability and adherence to established procedures, the Board seems to be at fault.
When asked to comment on the loss on earnings that the West Indies players have incurred as a result of the Digicel sponsorship, Becca said he was not surprised that that was the case.
"From the Digicel thing came about and I heard the money that they said that they were putting out and [said] it was the best sponsorship that has ever happened in the history of West Indies cricket, I asked a few questions in a column titled 'Is it really so?' because to me, the Cable & Wireless money was more because it was for home series alone and the Board was able then to find other sponsors for the away series. I was told by some of the players that the money they got under Cable & Wireless, they would not be getting that sort of money under Digicel. So that is nothing new to me," said Becca.
Becca, whose career started in 1973 at the now defunct Daily News, says that he is awaiting the Board's reply before putting pen to paper. WICB President Ken Gordon has promised a response to the Lucky report by September 16.
"It is the Board that put this Committee together and the thing has hit them for six. I want to see how they are going to defend their wicket, and at that point I will say something," promised Tony Becca.
