Hilaire named West Indies board CEO

Ernest Hilaire will be the next chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board, it has been announced. Hilaire, who takes office on October 1, succeeds Donald Peters, who quit in July. Steve Camacho, the former West Indies opener, stood in as the interim CEO.

Hilaire takes over at a crisis period in West Indies cricket, which has been rocked by the contracts issue. The withdrawal of several senior players has already crippled the national team, which recently lost to Bangladesh at home, and the matter is now being mediated by the region's political leadership.

"The WICB is facing an extremely difficult challenge as it seeks to establish a new framework for the development of cricket in the region and Dr Hilaire is expected to be pivotal in shaping and managing the transformation which is required," WICB president Julian Hunte said.

Hilaire is the board's fifth CEO in the last nine years, after Gregory Shillingford, Roger Brathwaite, Bruce Aanensen and Peters.

As a former CEO of Cricket St Lucia, he was instrumental in the country's bid to host matches in the 2007 World Cup. He was also appointed tournament director of the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in the Caribbean next June. He was also a former permanent secretary of Youth and Sports in St. Lucia.