Board in Hall's good hands

It's a "monumental task" to put West Indies cricket back on track but he is the man for the job and so far he is performing well.

That report card, of sorts, on the work the Reverend Wes Hall is doing as president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has come from Julian Hunte, a former WICB vice-president, who is now St Lucia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and the current Chairman of the Caricom Council on Foreign Relations (COFCOR).

"I hold the Rev. Hall in the highest regard," Hunte told MIDWEEK SPORT.

"He has had experience in playing, experience in managing and he is a man of the highest integrity.

"I have no doubt that he is doing the best he can in the circumstances in which he found the Board and is trying to make the best of it.

"He has a monumental task on his hand because in addition to certain changes which have been made in terms of guaranteeing fees, and the lack of adequate resources with which I understand the Board is currently faced. He must have a number of problems and I am in sympathy with him on that."

Hunte, who is to become president of the United Nations General Assembly in September, expressed the hope that the board and Caribbean countries ensure that all the arrangements for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the region were completed on time so that the region would reap maximum benefit from the series.

"I can only hope that the arrangements for the 2007 World Cup to be held here (in the Caribbean) would in fact come to fruition because it is what we earn, what West Indies cricket will earn for itself that will provide it with some of the funding it needs to carry it through for another five to 10 years," he added.

"I hold Hall in the highest regard personally and feel he is doing the best he can in the circumstances."

Hunte, a former president of the Windward Islands Cricket Board, urged the WICB to accelerate the pace of its cricket development programme so that the region would be able to compete effectively against Australia, England, South Africa and other Test playing nations.

"There are several things we need to do as a matter of urgency in order to get a proper development programme going," was the way he put it.

"There is also the question of whether we need to set up a regional lottery to provide the funding to support the professional league," he added.

"There is also the plan to get all of the contracted players to go around to the various territories doing work either in coaching or motivating young cricketers as part of that programme."