Camacho 'gave best shot'

Stephen Camacho isleaving his office at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for the final time'this week with immense personal satisfaction. The outgoing chief executive officer, just back in Antigua after spending ten weeks in England seeking medical treatment, is reflecting positively on the 18 years he spent as head of the board's secretariat.

For six of those years, the 54-year-old former Guyana and West Indies opening batsman single-handedly ran the administrative affairs of the board.

As time went by, there were many who voiced their disapproval over his performance in light of a few blunders, but Camacho always remained dedicated to the job.

'It was in the labour of love. West Indies cricket has been my life. I'd like to think that I have given it my best shot,' he said yesterday.

'It's been 18 years in a very demanding job. Between 1982 and 1988, I virtually ran it on my own.

'There were no holidays or things like that. It was a hard slog, but it was very, very rewarding.'

He contends, though, over time the job became increasingly difficult in the face of growing changes.

'You are in the public eye and it's becoming a lot more political,' he said. 'A lot more people have a say in things and issues are not as clear-cut as one would wish them to be.'

While he formally moves out of his Factory Road, St. John's office on Wednesday, Camacho would be delighted to make a contribution once he fully recovers from the illness that forced him to go on sick-leave in March.

'I've gotten tremendous personal satisfaction in helping West Indies cricket,' said the former right-handed batsman who played 11 Tests between 1968 and 1971.

'I hope I will be remembered somewhat for this and I will always be here to give back something to West Indies cricket.'

He remains non-committal about the future. The only thing he will say is that he is to return to London in about five weeks for medical attention on his undisclosed illness.

'I haven't really made up my mind. I'm going to take it one day at a time over the next month or two,' he said.

'If my health is fine, then I'll be able to address what I'm going to do in the years ahead.'

He was given some optimism by doctors who are pleased with his progress.

'The prognosis is pretty good. If one can realistically say, it is a lot better than we thought at one time,' he said.

As the WICB's first full-time employee, Camacho has witnessed a host of changes, whether it be the expansion of staff, changes in the location of the board's headquarters or the financial growth of the board.

Between 1982 and 1988 when Camacho was executive secretary, the headquarters were initially in a bedroom of his wife's flat in Jamaica before moving into the legal offices of the then president Allan Rae.

'It was unbelievable what we did in the early days,' he admitted.

'We were very constrained by the lack of finance. We basically ran all of our cricket on the profits from overseas tours. On many occasions we didn't know where the next cent was coming from.'

When Clyde Walcott was elected as WICB president in 1988, the headquarters moved to Barbados where Andrew Sealy was added to the staff as assistant executive secretary.

Once the post of chief executive officer was created in the early 1990s, Camacho was the obvious choice. Over the years the board was able to increase its staff by adding a chief financial officer, chief marketing officer and director of coaching.

Personal assistants are also among the staff of about 18 at the board's headquarters which were shifted to Antigua in 1996.

The additions were made largely possible by the revenue generated from television coverage in the Caribbean during the last 11 seasons.

'I wouldn't say it (the board's financial position) is extremely healthy, but I think great efforts have been made to put it on a very sound basis,' Camacho said.