Teddy Griffith elected president of West Indies board

Teddy Griffith, a retired banker from Barbados, has been elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). At a meeting at the Jolly Beach Resort in Antigua, Griffith outgunned Clarvis Joseph by nine votes to four.

Griffith replaced Wesley Hall, the West Indian fast-bowling legend, who stepped down from the post due to ill health. Griffith, who played cricket for Barbados and Jamaica, is a former vice-president of the board. He famously resigned from that post two years ago, along with then president Pat Rousseau, after their decision to sack Ricky Skerritt as the national team's manager was overturned by the board's directors.

Griffith has also served as chairman of the WICB marketing committee, and will now have to plunge into the task of organising the 2007 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies. Countries have until January 31, 2004, to submit their applications to host matches.

Interestingly, when it was announced that Hall would step down it was widely expected that Chetram Singh, a bookmaker from Guyana, would take over the job. But Singh was told that he would not be allowed to attend ICC meetings and, thus, had to step aside.