Whycliffe Cameron elected new WICB president

Whycliffe 'Dave' Cameron has been elected president of the WICB, after he beat the incumbent Julian Hunte 7-5 during the board's annual general meeting in Barbados. Cameron's running mate, Emmanuel Nanthan of Dominica, is the new vice-president; he beat Barbados Cricket Association president Joel Garner 8-4 in the election.

Cameron, 42, was nominated by the Jamaica Cricket Association and seconded by the Windward Cricket Board. He has been a WICB director since 2002 and served as vice-president during Hunte's tenure as president, which began in 2007.

"It was a long process and I travelled the length and breadth of the Caribbean, from Kingston, Jamaica to Georgetown, Guyana to be able to address the concerns of our stakeholders," Cameron said after his election. "As we take over the reins of the WICB, we assume responsibility with very lofty goals in our minds and the understanding of the reason we are here and what everybody in the region is looking forward to us being able to accomplish.

"In my presentations to the territorial boards, I spoke about building on our immense talent, increasing the revenues in the sport and, above all, uniting the region through the game of cricket. We must find creative ways of dealing with the challenges that will confront us from time to time."

Nanthan joined Cameron in thanking outgoing president Hunte for his services to West Indies cricket over the last six years. "He is my friend and has been for a number of years," Nanthan said of Hunte. "He is to me a hero, coming from the Windward Islands, and I am proud of the way he presided over the WICB during a difficult time and now the baton has been passed on.

"I am fortunate to be part of the new team chosen to advance the development of West Indies cricket. In accepting the baton, what I believe we are offering are two fresh pairs of legs to continue the work, so that one day we too can pass on the baton to someone else to take the game that we all love and cherish further forward in this region.

"To be able to begin this work, it will be incumbent on us to reach out to every nook and cranny in the region including the private sector to rally with us. It is not about the past, nor who won and lost this election, but bringing the people of the region together, mobilisation and strengthening behind a common cause. We know the Caribbean well and from time to time we know there will be disagreements, but we plead with the people of the region to agree to disagree with us when this happens so that we can move forward."