WICB needs to get its act together

Almost two years ago West Indies captain Chris Gayle spoke a mouthful when calling for the board to improve its own performance if it wanted the players to do the same.

He was publicly ridiculed by the board's hierarchy for what a former local prime minister might have termed muscular language in putting his case for balance. He was threatened with disciplinary action because it was felt it wasn't politically correct to criticise your de facto bosses in public. Generally speaking that statement is true, but it doesn't necessarily suggest that one's position is flawed.

Truth knows no boundaries, has no friends, takes a natural course like a flowing river. Irrespective of the consequences you might have to face for speaking your mind, it doesn't change the colour of the picture you have painted.

For whatever reason, Gayle escaped sanction for speaking out against the board in public. The decision not to take action against him may have been influenced not only by the fact that he was right, but that public support for his stance was overwhelming.

Truth be told, the West Indies skipper can make the same call now, and it is possible that events would play out in the same exact fashion because nothing has really changed from the board's end, and this is truly an indictment of its leadership.

Realistically for me, the only significant gain under current board president Julian Hunte is that he has been able to bridge the gap between the board and the players by inviting the players' representative, the West Indies Players' Association, through its president Dinnanath Ramnarine to be part of the decision-making process.

Whether it had to do with players contracts, imaging or intellectual property rights or even being caught in the middle of commercial wrangling between telecommunication powerhouses, there used to be great uncertainty amid the tension whether a tour would be jeopardised if the players weren't available or if, as the board was forced to do a few years back, choose a second-string team to tour Sri Lanka. This appears to have been solved. If this can be considered to be good news then it is very difficult to find anymore.

And the board's latest faux pas with the Stanford Super Series game compounds the situation. Not to mention the board's chief executive officer Donald Peters putting his foot in his mouth when two players training with the Stanford team were axed for alleged drug abuse.

In all of this it is not a case where the board doesn't have the expertise, it seems like a question of whether it speaks with one voice. Does the right hand know what the left is doing? Are there personality clashes that will further damage the image of the board? Perhaps the biggest and most salient question is how to get the board to function efficiently despite having a core of intelligent and successful people at its disposal?

Some may argue that the board sets policy and its up to its administrative staff to carry out these functions on a daily basis. To others this might be seen as a way of shifting blame, so in essence, the buck stops at the top.

Bottom line. Hunte promised to put the West Indies Cricket Board in order. The same issues that made headlines before he became president are still hot topics.

The board has to get its act together.