Rodney Bay, St. Lucia – A two-day retreat of the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) has been very productive, according to attendees. What is believed to be the first-ever retreat of the official body of cricket for the Windward Islands took place in St. Lucia on February 24 and 25, 2022.

The purpose of the two-day activity was to identify opportunities to modernize and advance Windward Islands cricket. Key areas discussed were governance, cricket development pathway, women’s cricket, and tournaments.

WICB President Dr. Kishore Shallow was pleased with the outcome of the retreat. “It was indeed a very fruitful two days. The retreat presented the directors with an ideal opportunity to determine and establish the requirements to advance cricket. This is a defining moment in Windwards Cricket and undoubtedly an exciting time to be involved as we modernize cricket administration in this sub-region. The Board and executive will move into full gear to implement these action items with utmost efficiency,” stated Dr. Shallow.

There have been significant changes in governance and constitutional reform. These would be in effect from the upcoming AGM, due in May. The cricket changes will take effect immediately.

Some specific outcomes from the meeting:

Governance Reform

  • The offices of President, Vice President and CEO will be renamed Chair, Vice Chair and Executive Director respectively.
  • For elections, nominations will open six weeks before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and close thirty days before the actual elections.
  • For the purpose of voting at an AGM, two alternate Directors from each of the national associations will be the electorate instead of the two appointed Directors.
  • The positions of Secretary and Treasurer will be subjected to Terms of Reference, which would include professional Legal and Financial backgrounds, respectively.
  • The Secretary and Treasurer become voting members in Administrative matters.

Cricket 

  • Twelve (12) elite female players will be put on six-month retainers in the first instance. There will be three per country, with the assignment of a paid coach for each group.
  • A new role to lead the cricket component of WICB was created, Technical Director.
  • Additionally, the role of Operations Manager/ Development Officer was created for each island.
  • There will be bilateral series across the Windward islands for emerging players.
  • The Advancing Cricketers through Education (ACE) program will be expanded to accredited courses.
  • A full calendar of tournaments and activities for reintroduction of competitive cricket since the pandemic. These are across age levels for male and female.

All the WICB directors were present at the retreat. Three independents (Roseline Preville, Wayne Auguste, and Donald Albert) also participated at the invitation of the Board.