Hunte gives reasons for removal

Dear Ian,

Thank you for your very frank, though concerned, email to me.

I will be equally frank with you, and as concerned. I have known you for many years and you know that I will call it as I see it, which is something you also do exceptionally well in your present profession. In fact, this is what makes you one of the best commentators in the world.

Essentially, cricket is the core function of the Board On that basis, the Cricket Committee is our most important committee. This very simple view has not been adhered to and the Board previously spent most of its time on ancillary matters instead of addressing its core issues.

We now start our Board meetings by focusing first of all on cricket. Our Strategic Plan, now being drafted, is based on our goal, our determination really, to re-establish the West Indies at the pinnacle of world cricket. Whatever is in harmony with that goal will be kept. Anything in our strategic plan that does not contribute to the development of West Indies cricket will not be considered.

Given that approach, the Cricket Committee has to be at the centre of our plans, policies and programmes for cricket, not just the playing and player aspects, but in terms of our development.

We need the Committee to meet face-to-face frequently to deal with the many issues confronting us now and to develop the blueprint for the future. The core of the Committee must be available and accessible and ready to meet in the Caribbean at short notice. Teleconferences are fine but right now they do not serve our best interests.

This is why we rethought what we wanted from the Committee and how it should operate. We kept Clive (Lloyd) although at this period he is in South Africa but he will have other options later. Deryck (Murray) as deputy chairman is in Trinidad and the other core members are in Barbados, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Nevis.

As a special advisor you and the other special advisors will get copies of agendas and minutes and if you could be physically present you would be welcome at all meetings. Efforts will be made to have teleconferences but these will be a desperate last resort for emergency use only.

We value your experience, expertise and, more recently, your exposure. You have a major contribution to make to our planning and our strategy. However, it is very difficult to do this from distance or to coincide with your schedule and working hours. I will ask Clive and Deryck to make a special effort to keep our advisors informed, to seek your views individually or collectively, and to ensure that your perspectives enlighten our decision-making. You have my commitment on that.

If you felt slighted, overlooked or insulted, you were not. Perhaps I should have explained better, but we cannot change the past. We can only move on and make the best use of the resources we have available. You are one.

If this episode has served any purpose it has demonstrated to me the depth of your commitment which is as broad as your expanding knowledge of the game and your impact on it. You will always be one of us and your views will always be welcome. Feel free at any time to talk to me or write.

I hope this helps to explain what I intended and that we can now agree to move ahead together in the interests of West Indies cricket.

All the best,

Julian R. Hunte