Back to business, at last (Column)

The initial and natural reaction to last week's bca presidential vote was an immense sense of relief.

We were free at last. Free of the unseemly electioneering, free of the rambling and repetitive interviews in the media, free of the planted letters in the press and of the same inane points from the same inane voices on the call-in programmes, free of the unnecessary full page ads and circular letters, free of the whole sorry business that only served to discredit the good name of barbados cricket.

Well, free at least for the next two years until the whole unpleasant process starts all over again.

sir conrad hunte is a good man of impeccable cricketing pedigree with his heart in the right place.

Far from being a hindrance, his lengthy absence from barbados should be an advantage in his role as the new president.

He will carry none of the baggage that has inevitably accumulated on the shoulders of others ensnared by the petty politics now consuming so many aspects of our national life like some voracious love vine.

What is more, his seven years in the offices of the united cricket board of south africa, and on the grounds of soweto, alexandria and other townships, have been an invaluable experience in administration.

He has a proven and accomplished second lieutenant in stephen alleyne and most of those he put forward as his team.

If the members did not endorse all, lock, stock and barrel, he has enough cricketing experience to appreciate that captains rarely get it all their own way at selection meetings.

In that regard, the loss of charlie griffith, hunte's long-time team-mate with empire, barbados and the west indies and a man of cricket through and through, was a particular setback.

Tony marshall's disappointment is understandable. The presidency was a role he coveted and fervently fought for.

He was convinced the bca needed to move in a different direction.

His background in banking and the realities of professional sport on the eve of the second millennium persuaded him that one of barbados' most significant non-governmental organisations required a more commercial approach to its business.

It was a self-evident proposition but, if we are to judge by the several resignations from the board during his brief time in office, marshall seemed to ignore the misgivings of those less than enthusiastic over his plans. Had his style of leadership been more obliging he might have remained to see his vision through.

Hunte's goals have been set out in the manifesto which he, like marshall, felt necessary to set forth before members.

Simple assertion

surely all that was required as a simple assertion that he, and his team, would do their best for barbados and west indies cricket. Perhaps, in the circumstances, that would have been too naive.

So, we have been told through his circulars and his many interviews of his aim to boost the clubs - "the backbone of our game's development" - and the youth programme, to financially involve corporate barbados which he has already canvassed and to bring into mainstream coaching the expertise of our many former greats who are still keen, active and in our midst.

We would have expected nothing less.

One particularly pleasing and pertinent new point is revealed by hunte on yet another interview on vob's point at issue programme today.

He and his team, we hear, have set themselves the task of constructing a new cricket stadium in time for the 2007 world cup.

It is a subject that has occupied the concerned attention of this column more than once in the recent past. It is worth restating.

For all the physical development at kensington, started under the presidency of peter short and impressively continued under marshall, the grand old place has passed its sell-by date.

The limitations on expansion are far too obvious for it to be regarded as an appropriate international sporting centre in the 21st century.

It still qualifies as the mecca of west indies cricket only through its extraordinary history.

For its amenities, it has always been behind the expansive queen's park oval, has now been surpassed by grenada's spanking new queen's park and is strongly rivalled by the antigua recreation ground.

And all these rank well behind most of the venues in other parts of the cricket world, even in impoverished bangladesh.

fans should no longer be subjected to five days of a test match on the hard board benches of the challenor, kensington and haynes and greenidge stands, or precariously perched in the open on temporary seating.

What is needed is a completely new, fully modern facility, away from the clutter of bridgetown and its environs, with ample parking, spacious, comfortable stands, well appointed eating areas and floodlights with provision for other sports to maximise its potential.

Sir conrad has set himself a difficult challenge in adding such a costly undertaking to his already lengthy list. But it should not be beyond the collective efforts of his board and the community as a whole.

It is a bold and necessary concept and to be welcomed.