ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – A dramatic no-show by representatives of the Barbados Cricket Association and the Guyana Cricket Board has forced West Cricket India to postpone its presidential elections until next month.
In a farcical turn of events yesterday, only eight representatives – two each from the Jamaican Cricket Association, the Leeward Islands Cricket Board, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the Wind Islands Cricket Board – attended the 10am start of the virtual AGM, below the nine required for a quorum.
CWI said that efforts had been made to reach the BCA and GCB representatives and when those proved unsuccessful, the meeting adjourned at 10:50 am.
“So the meeting could not go on business as CWI’s Articles of Association state that nine (9) representatives of Full Members need to be present in person to be quorate,” CWI said in a statement later yesterday.
“Although they authorized their representatives to attend, when the register was called there were no representatives present from the Guyana Cricket Board or Barbados Cricket Association.
“The Articles of Association provide that if a quorum is not within thirty minutes of the time appointed for the meeting, it shall be adjourned to the next business day or to any other time and place of the Board It shall be decided by the Directors, and at the adjourned meeting no further business shall be transacted. ”
Following an emergency board meeting held at noon, the directors of CWI decided to hold the adjourned AGM on April 11.
In providing a timeline ahead of the AGM, CWI stated that all members were given “Appointment to Attend” equipment on March 19, with all full members confirming their attendance on Saturday, just 24 hours before the scheduled meeting.
The highlight of the AGM was the highly anticipated period for the presidency, with incumbent president Ricky Skerritt facing a challenge from GCB secretary Anand Sanasie and vice president Dr Kishore Shallow against BCA’s Calvin Hope.
And with the BCA and GCB team show and the subsequent adjournment of the AGM, it is likely that more fuel will be added to an election campaign that had been lacking in intensity.
Sanasie and Hope had argued in recent weeks that West Indies cricket was headed in the wrong direction, launching their “Operation Rescue” manifesto containing a series of proposals aimed at restoring “excellence, resilience, confidence, unity and enthusiasm. ”
Speaking ahead of the expected elections yesterday, Sanasie said he was confident of being elected president.
“I am [confident], and if I didn’t see that [winning] a route I would not have been in the race, ”he was quoted as saying.
In an interview last week, Shallow said that he and Skerritt were looking forward to the elections, and expected that they would receive the support of most territorial boards.
“I would say 8-4 but there is a possibility it could be 9-3 as well,” Shallow said in reference to the anticipated victory margin.
Skerritt and Shallow took over CWI in 2019 when they defeated three-term incumbents Dave Cameron and Emmanuel Nanthan.