WICB president promises new era of transparency

Ken Gordon: 'I don't believe that anyone was deliberately keeping things quiet ' © Trinidad & Tobago Express

Ken Gordon, the recently-elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board, has said that as part of his bid to ensure that there is transparency in the board's dealings the "relevant parts" of the report by Justice Lucky into the Cable & Wireless and Digicel contract negotiations will be made public.

Gordon was handed Lucky's report last Friday, and he and senior officials have been examining it over the weekend. There were fears that it would be kept under wraps - critics of the WICB had certainly raised such suspicions - but Gordon said that he would discuss its findings with the executive and then divulge relevant sections of it.

The report was commissioned by Teddy Griffiths, Gordon's predecessor, after months of speculation and rumour over the way Digicel had been awarded the sponsorship of West Indies cricket. There was considerable unease over the way Cable & Wireless, the previous sponsor, had been replaced, and the board's marked reluctance to make information available only increased the unrest. The recent players' strike was a legacy of the contract dispute.

Gordon was in no doubt that the board had to be more open in its dealings. "I hope you will always keep in mind that this report has come about because the West Indies Cricket Board recognised the need for transparency," he explained. "They didn't have to do this. So that if there was anything to hide, if there was any intention to keep anything under the carpet, this would not have happened. I think you must give jack his jacket, and whatever criticisms are levelled at the board in the past, I think we should give it full marks for that initiative."

Gordon also stressed that he did not believe that there had been any attempt to cover anything up in the past. "My own view is that the members of the Board with whom we've had contact are all understanding of the need to be transparent. I don't believe that anyone was deliberately keeping things quiet because there were any sins to read. But still, events tend to move things along, and I believe that the timing is propitious for that."

And, cruciially, Gordon offered a hope that relations between the WICB and the West Indies Players' Association, which have all but broken down, could be improved. He praised WIPA for its role in trying to resolve the dipute, and said that he hoped the outstanding issues could be resolved before the scheduled tour to Australia in October. WIPA has set a deadline of September 30 to find a solution.

Justice Lucky, who along with accountant Gregory Georges and Avondale Thomas had produced the report, explained the the constraints placed on him and his colleagues. "This was just a committee, we were not a commission of enquiry. With a commission of enquiry, for example, if CARICOM had appointed this commission of enquiry, with a specific mandate, then they would have indicated that we would have the power to subpoena witnesses. We had to depend on their [witnesses] good will."

Lucky also said that of the all members of the board requested to come before the committee, only two directors, whom he neglected to name, did not make an appearance, saying they had expressed doubts about the interview.