BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies Cricket Incumbent president Ricky Skerritt is set to return unopposed in elections later this month after undercover pair Anand Sanasie, and running mate Calvin Hope , announced that they were withdrawing their challenge.
In a joint statement, Sanasie and Hope said that the recent developments with the Guyana Cricket Board elections along with the events surrounding the postponement of last Sunday’s CWI AGM, have forced them to “withdraw our appropriate applications for President and Vice President at the CWI election ”.
“Given the unfortunate circumstances that led to and recent events in Guyana regarding the Guyana Cricket Board, one of the six (6) Full Members of CWI, along with the refusal of CWI leadership to maintain the long-standing traditions of the highest standards. and rules for governing the West Indies cricket administration, ”the statement said.
“We, Anand Sanasie and Calvin Hope, having distanced themselves from such action by CWI, have decided to withdraw our respective applications for President and Vice President in the CWI election scheduled to take place at the CWI 22nd AGM on April 11, 2021. ”
This follows a decision by the Barbados Cricket Association and the Guyana Cricket Board to skip the virtual AGM organized with the postponement and subsequent suspension of the presidential elections.
Sanasie of the GCB and Hope, BCA’s vice president, had been encouraged to face off against Skerritt and his vice president Dr Kishore Shallow.
However, both the BCA and GCB said they were dissatisfied with the late distribution of CWI’s audited financial statements, arguing that the governing body had not provided the identified documents 14 days in advance.
The BCA and GCB team show was met with backlash from their territorial board counterparts with the four who attended Sunday’s AGM issuing statements condemning the move.
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket board president Azim Bassarath said the GCB and the BCA had “made a mistake” while the Leeward Islands Cricket Board said the action had brought CWI into disrepute “.
The Jamaican Cricket Association labeled the decision a “dark moment” while the Wind Islands Cricket Board argued that there had been “no good reason for the way confusion and discredit have been listed on our highly respected and honorary governing body . ”
Sanasie and Hope campaigned on the platform to revamp West Indies cricket, with their manifesto “Operation Rescue” offering a series of initiatives aimed at restoring “excellence, resilience, confidence, unity and enthusiasm.”
Despite pulling out of the elections, however, Sanasie and Hope said they would continue to engage with the development of West Indies cricket
“We remain fully committed to, and passionate about, cricket and focusing on what is in the best interests of the West Indies cricket administration,” said the joint statement.