World Cup should clear West Indies' debts

Ken Gordon: 'I think overall, we will look back on this as a tremendous event' © T&T Express

The profits from the World Cup may entirely clear the debts of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Board president Ken Gordon told the Express last week: "I'm optimistic enough to hope that it might wipe it all out."

The beleaguered board are carrying a debt of US$15m. And it was the pre-tournament hope of Gordon that the six-week tournament, which will end on Saturday in Barbados, would go some way to relieving that burden.

Asked last week if the WICB would in fact reap the expected financial bounty, the president said, "I expect that if we don't reap the full benefits, we will get pretty close. There may be a shortfall but I don't think it will be of any significance. I think we will come close to the targets we set. And I think overall, we will look back on this as a tremendous event."

Elaborating on what the World Cup profits could mean for the board, Gordon continued: "West Indies cricket expects to get a fair investment on it and out of that it intends to put in place plans for the developing of cricket. That's what we want to do. We've been carrying a deficit of US$15m. If we can find a way to clear that, it eases our overall structure. It gives us the ability to have bank-borrowing, to do things which we can't do now. Now we can hopefully work our way out of that."

The Caribbean's first-ever hosting of cricket's biggest event, however, has been marred by the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, complaints about the numbers of spectators at some venues and the restrictions on them.

"Many things have gone wrong," Gordon admitted. "But," he asked, "who could have expected Bob Woolmer, right at the beginning of the series, to go like that? Who would have expected India and Pakistan to be withdrawn and so many thousands of people who were planning to come canceling? Who could have expected these things? Some countries have paid the price for it."

In spite of the difficulties, though, Gordon insisted that the World Cup was more success than failure. "This is the third largest event in the world. And we have done it when people didn't think we could. And I think at the end of the day, we should all take some little pride in achieving it."

Gordon said he was impressed with the manner in which the local organisers have responded to the various problems. "We have dealt with enormous problems and our people have grown every time they have addressed them. And I think even though there were all these setbacks which I referred to, we moved into a second gear. And other things were done to put in place.

"Grenada was happy, Guyana was happy. From what I see here, Barbados looks happy. We've had some empty stands, but you always have empty stands when you have weak games. The challenge is how you handle that in a way that would minimise the damage to the visible, while at the same time, not affecting the sales you're trying to build, and I think we've done a pretty good job at this."

And Gordon noted further that he was especially pleased with "the tremendous personal growth I've seen amongst the people who have been managing this. The volunteers have been one of the great successes of this thing ... because they have been absolutely superb. I've heard so many tourists talk about that. You can't quantify the benefit of the warmth that has been generated at that level when those people leave here We must understand that this is not a project that you can expect your investment to be returned in a year or two, it's a long-term investment."

Gordon, who has tendered his resignation as WICB boss but who has been asked to re-consider, is expected to give the board his final decision on Sunday at a special meeting.

The WICB have been busy this week with planning meetings on the way forward for the cricket following the West Indies' disappointing World Cup performance. Gordon said last week a change of culture was needed, "by laying down rules on which you are first of all absolutely serious about implementing. Those who don't conform to those rules will know it's their option to conform or otherwise...the new people you bring in, people who are committed to those standards, will ensure that they are maintained."

Asked why such change was taking so long, Gordon said: "I can only speak for the last 18 months and I will tell you that we have attempted to do so. But when you are dealing with a culture that has been inculcated over a very long time, you don't do that and press your fingers and it disappears."

Gordon said he felt Brian Lara's appointment as captain for a third time, last year, and his re-commitment to really do everything that he could to put cricket on a new footing, was the start of "an important beginning."

But the president conceded last week that West Indies cricket must now go back to the drawing board again. "We were found sadly wanting. We tried but it wasn't good enough because we were not trying the right way, because we are not prepared properly enough to do it. And that's what we've got to correct."