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Ken Gordon, the chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board, has agreed to meet with the two sides battling for control of US cricket in a bid to find an end to the row which has seen the USA suspended from the ICC.The two factions – the USA Cricket Association, led by Gladstone Dainty, and the regional league presidents – have been asked to come together in Washington on the weekend of June 9-10.In a letter to all those concerned, Paul de Silva, the USACA secretary, wrote:”Mr. Gordon is of the view that an important first step would be to have a general airing of views from USACA membership so that there can be a clear understanding of whether problems exist.”Gordon and the WICB were asked to intervene by the ICC in March when the USA were suspended for the second time in as many years.The timing of the meeting is important as should a resolution be worked out then it will enable the WICB to report this to the ICC executive when it meets in London at the end of June. If all goes well, it is possible that the ICC executive might recommend that the suspension be revoked.

Maharashtra held Mumbai to a draw in the Under-14 West Zone leaguematch played at the Pune Club in Pune on Saturday. The hosts tookthree points while the visiting Mumbai lads went home with five pointsowing to their first innings lead.After Maharashtra skipper AkshayOak won the toss and invited the visitors to bat,Mumbai declared their innings at 434/8 off 105.4 overs on the secondday of the match. The highlight was a mammoth 209 run partnership forthe fifth wicket between Shoeb Shaikh and Prashant Naik. Shoeb scored100 off 127 balls with 14 boundaries while Naik piled up 148 off 221balls with 20 hits to the fence.Maharashtra were skittled out for 260 in 92.5 overs. Opener NikhilMunde scored 60 off 121 balls with nine hits to the fence. ChetanKasbekar was unbeaten on 53 off 92 balls. Pratik Kar bagged four for44.Conceding a 174 run lead, Maharashtra followed on. Their secondessay was similar to the first one as they were bundled out for 203 in84.5 overs. Nikhil Paradkar scored 55 off 134 balls with nine hits tothe fence. Rohit Kakde topscored with 60 off 65 with a dozen hits tothe fence. Sanket Chavan picked up three for 34.Mumbai were set a target of 30 runs in three overs to win the matchoutright. They managed to score 22 off the three overs for the loss ofone wicket.

Zimbabwe’s place in South Africa’s domestic one-day tournaments has been confirmed after meetings in Johannesburg. They will take part in the 50-over MTN domestic championship and the Pro20 series on a home and away basis.Cricket South Africa, the six franchises and the South Africa Cricketers’ Association agreed that Zimbabwe would play as a seventh franchise, but would not take part in the SuperSport series which has already begun. The initial proposal had included the first-class tournament in the plans, but it was opposed because it was felt their late inclusion would devalue the competition.However, Zimbabwe will play three first-class matches against a South Africa Composite XI, called the SuperSport Challenge, made up of six successful franchise players and the leading amateurs from the level below. The team will be chosen by the national selection panel.The first match begins at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom on Thursday and the other fixtures and venues will be announced shortly, but all three matches will take place in South Africa. The fixtures involving Zimbabwe for the limited overs competitions will also be announced shortly, but will not affect existing fixtures announced by CSA.Gerald Majola, the Cricket South Africa CEO, said: “Following a series of meetings between the CEOs of CSA’s Affiliates and the South African Cricketers’ Association, agreement was reached at assisting Zimbabwe players to participate in a more competitive level of cricket.”This is in terms of a request by the ICC to provide Zimbabwe players with an opportunity to play more competitive cricket in their bid to play Test cricket again,” he said. “The South African players, through SACA, also wish to assist Zimbabwe players in this regard and also for the participation to be beneficial to South African cricket.”The Zimbabwe Cricket Union has welcomed this initiative, and has agreed to field Zimbabwe’s strongest team for every match. This new set-up will be reviewed at the end of the 2007-8 season”.South African Composite XI Benji Hector (capt), Stephen Cook, Cliffie Deacon, Athenkosi Dyili (wk), Petrus Koortzen, Dumisa Makalima, Sinethemba Mjekula, Pepler Sandri, Blake Snijman, Jean Symes, Stiaan van Zyl, Timmy Gamade (12th man)

A report in today’s Daily Telegraph says that the British government may stop short of banning Zimbabwe from touring in 2009 and are holding ongoing discussions with the ECB over the issue.If the government were to ban Zimbabwe’s players then the ICC would not be able to punish the ECB. However, the paper claims that the government are keen that the board finds a solution itself, although this is unlikely given recent comments from Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe Cricket’s chairman.Cricinfo has learned from sources close to the government that the preferred option is for Zimbabwe to be banned from playing their bilateral series against England in May-June 2009 but for their players to be admitted for the ICC World Twenty20 later that summer. That would avoid any moves to switch the tournament to another country, which is the ECB’s major concern.The report points out that political events may overtake cricketing ones. Robert Mugabe faces fresh elections in March, and while it is unlikely he will lose, with Zimbabwe’s economy in meltdown – January inflation is around 150,000% – he could face a leadership challenge from within his own party.Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, said he was confident that unlike previous tours, this time the government would not leave the board to make a decision. “My impression is that the government will not leave this to the cricket authorities and that they will not issue visas to Zimbabwe when they come here,” he told the Daily Telegraph.The one problem that does remain is that Chingoka has been banned from entering the UK because of what the Foreign Office maintains are his close links to the Mugabe regime. Even if Zimbabwe were allowed to participate in the ICC World Twenty20, Chingoka would not be permitted to attend. It remains to be seen how the ICC would view that.

ScorecardAdil Rashid produced a fine all-round performance for Yorkshire to take them to a comfortable 51-run win over Somerset in the penultimate match of the Pro Arch Trophy in Abu Dhabi. Rashid cracked 35 from 40 balls at No. 6 to chivvy Yorkshire’s total up to a competitive 264 for 7 before grabbing 2 for 23 from 10 tidy overs.For all Rashid’s lower-order nous, it was Andrew Gale and Joe Sayers, the openers, who got Yorkshire off to a solid start with a brisk opening stand of 97. Sayers was trapped lbw by Wes Durston for 43 but Gale motored onwards, crunching 11 fours and a six in his 61-ball 63.When Durston removed Adam Lyth, Yorkshire had slipped to 165 for 4 before Anthony McGrath took charge in a typically combative 53 and, together with Rashid, the pair put on 65 for the fifth wicket before Stefan Jones picked up two late wickets.Somerset’s innings never took off. Carl Gazzard fell for 16 and Craig Kieswetter was run out by Lyth for a run-a-ball 26. Somerset’s top-order stumbled to 99 for 4 and, when Rashid trapped Durston lbw for 20, Somerset were 127 for 5. Omari Banks struck 55 from 75 balls but found little support from the lower order.

Darren Bicknell hit an undefeated 139 by carrying his bat throughoutthe day for Nottinghamshire against Sussex at Trent Bridge in theDivision Two County Championship on day one. The giant left handerfaced 308 balls to take Nottinghamshire to 336 for 8 in 104 overs.Bicknell was helped by Aussie Paul Reiffel (74 in 95 balls) who camein when the team were in deep trouble at 163 for 7. They both put ona partnership of 143 for the eighth wicket before Reiffel was outattempting to cut spinner Umer Rashid.The crucial stand was put on at a time when Notts slumped to 163 for7 from 100 for 2 at lunch with John Morris (18), Paul Johnson (0) andChris Read (0) being out in consecutive overs.Andrew Harris joined Bicknell as Notts got a fourth bonus battingpoint when they crossed 350. For Sussex, Jason Lewry took 4 for 85and James Kirtley 3 for 62.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

South Africa overcame the stout resistance of Marlon Samuels, who made his second Test century, to wrap up a comfortable innings-and-100-run victory on the third day at Durban. In doing so, they came from behind to complete a 2-1 series win after their surprise loss in the first Test at Port Elizabeth. On a flat and true surface, it was the raw pace of Dale Steyn that proved the difference on the day. He took 4 for 0 in 15 deliveries with the second new ball to complete his seventh five-wicket haul in 18 Tests, after a fourth-wicket stand of 144 between Samuels and Dwayne Bravo had threatened to carry the match into a fourth day.Steyn’s success was entirely appropriate on the day that South Africa’s champion seamer, Shaun Pollock, finally handed over the reins after an outstanding 12-year career. Pollock’s final day of Test cricket began with the second-ball wicket of Runako Morton, but thereafter he was comfortably negotiated by a West Indian middle order that put their desperate match situation out of mind, and knuckled down to fight for survival. Thanks to Samuels’s 190-ball innings, and a series-best 75 from the stand-in captain, Bravo, West Indies completed their tour as they had begun it, with pride.Their prognosis at the start of the day had not been encouraging, however. Their series prospects had been in tatters ever since they were bowled out for 139 on the first morning of the match, and when they shed three wickets in an ill-disciplined first session, there was a fear that the match could be all over by tea, especially seeing as their leading batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, was laid low by ‘flu.But Samuels and Bravo displayed the maturity that has been an enduring feature of what has to be recorded as an encouraging tour for West Indies. Despite heavy defeats at both Cape Town and now Durban, each match has been marked by the sort of character in adversity that might not previously have been expected of the side. Both men counterattacked gamely as the true nature of the wicket became apparent, and as a lead that had once stood at 417 was whittled down to less than 200, South Africa’s frustrations were laid bare.Samuels was instrumental in West Indies’ surprise win at Port Elizabeth, where he made twin scores of 94 and 40. This time he went one better, and finally ended a run of five-and-a-half years between Test hundreds. His last three-figure score came against India at Kolkata in October 2002, which explained his undemonstrative celebrations when he drilled Jacques Kallis down the ground for four to end what must have felt like an interminable wait.Samuels’ innings contained distinct changes of tempo. He began with a flourish during that carefree first session, when West Indies seemed to be in a hurry to administer the last rites themselves. But then he eased back in partnership with Bravo to drive the South Africa bowlers – in particular, Andre Nel – to distraction. He offered a clear chance to Kallis at second slip on 41, as he became entrenched in sight of his half-century, but then celebrated the milestone with a flurry of six fours in nine balls, including two streaky edges over and through the slips off Nel.Bravo at the other end produced an extremely classy innings. He has endured a disappointing tour as a batsman, with just 47 runs in the first five innings of the series. But he unfurled his full calypso range from the moment he strode to the crease, slamming 11 fours in bringing up his half-century from 67 balls. He offered one tough return chance to Nel’s right on 8, but showed his flair with a series of crunching back-foot drives and a sumptuous clump down the ground off the soon-to-be-retired Pollock.But, having batted all the way through the afternoon session with scarcely an alarm, the tea break did for Bravo’s concentration. Six balls after the resumption, he played across the line to a Steyn offcutter that wasn’t slipping as far down leg as he had imagined, and was sent on his way for 75. That brought Denesh Ramdin to the crease, and though he produced an attractive 25 from 38 balls, the manner of his departure was disappointing. He wafted flat-footedly at a short wide delivery from Nel, and Boucher took the catch with glee.At 273 for 5, the end was nigh, but Steyn’s coup de grace was spectacular. He is in the midst of a golden season, and proved it with an unplayable delivery to Samuels that pitched on off, held its line and clattered into the top of the stump. His celebration was wild to the point of over-exuberance, although Samuels was rightly given a fine ovation as he left the field. It had taken the ball of the match to dislodge him.There was no stopping Steyn now. In his next over, he squared up Darren Sammy with another 90mph legcutter that took the leading edge and flew straight back to the bowler, and three balls later Daren Powell lost his off stump to a similarly tailender-wrecking delivery. Though Jerome Taylor applied a late gloss with three smeared fours off Ntini, Steyn returned to wrap up the match, rattling the stumps once again with a fast, full and straight delivery to Fidel Edwards. On the day that Pollock stepped down from the team, his successor showed just how ready he is to lead the line.

Piyush Chawla, the 18-year old legspinner, says he sees a bigger role for himself in the one-day internationals following Anil Kumble’s exit from the 50-overs game but he is keen to cement his place in the Test team too.”I think [with Kumble’s retirement] I will get to play a lot of that [ODIs], but I am aiming for a permanent position in both the teams,” Chawla said.Chawla said he was not overawed by bowling to the likes of Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs. “They are great players but not bigger than Tendulkar,” said Chawla.Chawla says he has become a more confident bowler after dismissing Sachin Tendulkar in domestic cricket. “In domestic cricket, I have got Sachin Tendulkar out. If I can get his wicket, I can dismiss any batsman in the world.” Chawla had bowled Tendulkar with a googly in the Challenger Trophy event at the start of the last season.Looking back at the tour of Ireland, Chawla wished he had taken more wickets. “I am happy but not satisfied. I wanted to take more wickets,” Chawla told the . “I bowled well and created chances, I am happy with my bowling but didn’t get wickets. Bowling well is in my hands which I tried but wickets are something not up to you. It has been a good tour and a great experience as I got a chance to be on the field with the seniors of the team

Barbados and Jamaica are into the finals of the West Indies Under-19 tournament but not without controversy. Confusion initially reigned over who would contest the final of the limited-overs series after both semi-finals were wrecked by torrential rain and strong winds in St Kitts.Guyana’s team management said that on the basis of the tournament’s playing conditions, they had qualified for the final because of their No. 1 seeding from the preceding three-day tournament.Barbados, meanwhile, assumed they too had missed out on a spot in the final, based on the playing conditions laid down for the tournament. However, Derek Nicholas, the West Indies Cricket Board’s operations officer, revealed that Barbados and Jamaica would contest the final, based on standings after the three-round preliminary campaign.Barbados finished top of the standings with ten points while Jamaica and Leeward Islands were joint second on eight. Guyana were fourth with six points.Jamaica, sent in by the Leewards in overcast conditions at Cayon, had reached 70 for 3 after 21 overs when rain and wind, associated with the passage of Hurricane Dean, swept across the ground bringing a swift end to the contest. With the pitch waterlogged along with most of the outfield, umpires Cornelius Sam and Rudolph Wattley had no choice but to call off play.Before the abandonment, Shacoya Thomas, unbeaten on 24, and Andre Creary, on 5, were leading a revival after Jamaica had slipped to 53 for 3.In the second semi-final at Conaree there was even less play in the game between Guyana and Barbados. Sent in by Barbados, Guyana reached 22 for 2 before adverse weather lashed the ground rendering conditions unfit for play. Umpires Steadroy Techeira and Troy Mills made an inspection at 1.15 pm before making their final decision.Earlier, play began 66 minutes late due to late preparation of the playing area occasioned by extremely windy conditions. Barbados started positively when fast bowler Diego Stuart bowled Chris Pattadin for 4 with the third ball of the match to leave Guyana on 6 for 1. When the rain finally came the pitch was left uncovered as the ground staff, like the players and spectators, rushed to safety indoors as the wind speed increased rapidly.

Outgoing West Indies Cricket Board president Ken Gordon last night gave his final address to the Board of Directors meeting at Hilton Trinidad, Port of Spain. In his speech, Gordon sought to outline the challenges he faced and the achievements that were made, and which could now serve as a road map for his successors.

One of the major commitments I made at the time that I assumed the Presidency of the West Indies Board was that there would be full transparency in the manner in which the Board conducted its affairs…We are pleased to take that promise of transparency to a new level with a resumption of the West Indian Cricket Board’s Annual Report. This will hereafter be done on an annual basis. The consolidated accounts for the years 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 are both contained in this Report. They tell a dismal story. But they represent the recent history of the organisation, not its current financial realities.The significant turn around of the WICB commenced during the second half of the 2005/2006 financial year and will be fully captured when the accounts for the current financial year, September 2006-August 2007, are published. Our focus in this report will therefore be on the major activities, including management accounts, of the current financial year and the foundation which has been put in place for the future.The process of transforming the WICB into a result-driven organisation has begun. At the beginning of my term I asked to be judged on the basis of results and now as I depart, this statement will report on what has been achieved and the structures, which have been in place for the development of West Indies cricket.1. Cricket: The performance of our team on the field has been for the most part disappointing. We have changed captains, altered selectors, lost one of the best batsmen the world has seen, had our coach depart prematurely, appointed a cricket committee and made innumerable adjustments to our team, but the results continue to be up and down and far more often down. With some exceptions, we remain a tragedy of unfulfilled potential. There were moments before the World Cup when we dared to dream of winning it. More recently there was the outstanding performance of the team in winning the ODI series in England. Hopefully, that may represent a new beginning, but the evidence suggests that with the best of intentions we have been tinkering for too long with a problem that requires a fundamental change of culture and commitment. A change that will impose discipline as a matter of course and make people accountable for their behaviour.Our team lacks the toughness, mental and physical, of professional sustainability. At a time when our players are amongst the best paid in the game, we hear complaints that a “curfew is too restrictive”, “training standards are too vigorous”, “the fellas need a break”. All this while we remain at the lower end of the international scale and the leading teams conform to the demands of today’s professional cricket as a matter of course.

Our performance in the World Cup was our moment of truth. Now we must acknowledge the failure of not only our cricketers, but even more pointedly the failure of those of us who have had the responsibility to do the things we have not done.The other fundamental objective to which I committed myself at the beginning of my term was to pull together a foundation from which West Indies cricket could be rebuilt. Too many things flowed in different directions. Cricket was and still is all over the place and because of the intense emotion it generates in our six million-plus people whatever goes wrong is fed into a media circus. Those with agendas feed this and there is little breathing space to take considered coordinated action when addressing one or other of the myriad problems which occur daily.But the truth is that it is impossible to do so when you are also insolvent and kept alive only by the good will of your debtors. You live in a state of firefighting rather than managing effectively. Clearly then the underlying problem in the belly of it all was the finances of the WICB. And that had to be the first order of transformation, for without it nothing else was possible.2. Finance: The parlous state of WICB’s finances was accelerated on its downward slide with the introduction of the Future Tours Programme.The past ten years have been a building financial disaster. When our administration took office in August 2005, the WICB was bankrupt. That is a simple statement of fact. We were unable to pay our bills, lines of credit had dried up, we had suffered a loss of US$6.5 million the previous year and there was in addition a consolidated loss built up over the preceding years of US$15 million. After two frequently unpleasant years the situation has been fundamentally altered: Our credit is good, we made a profit of US$1.5 million at the end of 12 months (Sept 05-Sept 06), an improvement over the previous year of US$8 million, and we are on target for the current financial year with a small profit. This during a year when there were no “at home” games and therefore a notoriously difficult financial period. Also, assisted by the returns from the World Cup we have discharged our liabilities and subject to final audit we expect our consolidated loss of US$15 million to be virtually discharged.It is important to emphasise that the World Cup assisted. It was not responsible for the turn around which had commenced one year earlier with an improvement of US$8 million in our performance between 2005-2006 and the previous year. The WICB can therefore look forward to being clear of all major debt for the first time in more than a decade and operating in a healthy financial environment.3. The World Cup: Before I comment on the structure and changes that must prepare the foundation we need for our cricket, let us look at the World Cup as the major project of the WICB calendar. This event has been heavily criticised for its rigidity, high prices, being too up market, not delivering opportunity to the small man, and requiring too heavy an investment. Some of the criticisms are not without merit. We must acknowledge that there were weaknesses which might have been addressed differently and from which we must learn for future planning of mega events. I will not explain the circumstances which led to these problems, for this is not a World Cup Report. But it is necessary to put these criticisms into perspective. Let us therefore quickly look at some of the achievements of the World Cup:- On time delivery of 12 world-class stadiums and 22 practice grounds and facilities.- The skills development benefit from producing one of the largest events in the world, which has never before been attempted across nine sovereign states and which many thought was impossible.- The recruitment, training and outstanding performance of 4,300 volunteers- Training and certification of over 3,000 security personnel across the region delivering an incident-free match day operation- Global execution of the largest ticketed event in Caribbean history with almost flawless distribution of 672,000 tickets.- The movement of 16 teams and officials with “plane side pick up” throughout the region over 57 days with a 90 per cent on time record for all flights.- Moving 7,000 pieces of baggage across the region without losing one.- The management of over 9,000 men and women across the region- Delivery to cricket Boards a sum expected to be in excess of US$6 million for cricket development.- Delivering to LOCs a benefit of some US$32 million in ticket sales.Earning an estimated profit of US$59 million from the project as compared to South Africa’s US$27.2 million in 2005 and England’s US$22.3 million in 1999. Further, the benefits of destination exposure simply cannot be quantified, neither can the benefit to sport, if we manage our stadiums right.Much can be added, but what has been said makes the point. Our World Cup was much more than a learning experience. The WICB fought to get it. We won it, managed it and we delivered the approximate results we said we would. This was corporate achievement at its best and of which we can all be proud. I thank our CWC Board, CEO Chris Dehring and his able staff for their outstanding performance.

4. The Academy: Now I turn to the foundation we must put in place. Over the past two decades all the major cricketing nations of the world, other than the West Indies, have established cricket academies. That is where they work on developing the whole cricketer: the player, his mind and the man the type of development we have been talking about for 22 years, according to Clive Lloyd. It is long overdue that we broaden the horizons of our players and lift them above learning on the job.Now finally it is going to happen. The Academy will operate on the basis of a hub, with five spokes. The hub will be in Barbados and it is proposed that the spokes be in Jamaica, Leewards, Windwards, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.The University of the West Indies and the WICB have already signed a MOU which makes the facilities at the 3Ws ground in Barbados available to the WICB. Similar assurances have been given by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda for the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and with the Trinidad and Tobago government for the Brian Lara Stadium. We are pleased to advise that a Caribbean company has now agreed in principle to the sponsorship of the Barbados hub for the first five years and this is likely to be confirmed in a matter of days. We also hope to be in a position to shortly announce the sponsors of the spokes in the other five countries.The Academy will not only train and develop, it will give cricket a home. The debates on issues need no longer be conducted as a knee jerk reaction in the public gaze. When former West Indies Test players can be programmed to meet systematically with current younger players, this lifts the level of communication, assists understanding and tends to shift us all closer to the same page. Less tangible, perhaps, but in the longer term an unquantifiable benefit.A project which has been talked about for more than a decade will now ensure the ongoing viability of the Academy. The Governments of Caricom have collectively made a commitment to assist in its financing. They have agreed to make a percentage of the funds from a Caribbean Superball Lottery available for this purpose. The Trinidad and Tobago government, which will not be participating in the lottery for policy reasons, has made a commitment to provide an annual sum via a Trust Fund or otherwise, equivalent to what would have been earned had they participated. Finally therefore, Caribbean people will have the long awaited opportunity to demonstrate their support for Cricket by participating in the lottery. We expect their response to be loud and tangible.Professor Beckles of UWI, who has done an excellent job in developing the 3Ws Centre of Excellence in Barbados, has been appointed Chairman of the Committee responsible for implementation and will shortly be meeting the media to outline the details of the Academy Structure. The sum expected from the lottery is US$6 million per annum and the start-up date to which Caricom Governments have committed is October 1, 2007.5. Restructuring: We undertook a major restructuring of the WICB management team which took longer than anticipated. Nonetheless, this exercise contributed significantly to the success of our cost reduction efforts and is now near completion with the recent appointment of an experienced CEO heading our team. Mr Bruce Aanensen has come in to face a strong headwind with many internal distractions. Even so he has made a good start and I have every confidence in his ability to get the job done.6. WICB/WIPA: Our relationship with WIPA continues to be a matter for concern. The arbitration process has assisted in that strikes have been avoided. But communication between the two organisations remains adversarial. There are reasons for this which I will not address in this report. But I recommend to the new administration that this remains at the top of the list of priorities.

7. Stanford 20/20: We continue to hope that we may find common ground with Mr Stanford. We have done everything possible to do so and accommodate his requests but our overriding concern must be the growth and development of West Indies Cricket and this is not limited to a four- or five-year cycle. Neither can it be restricted to 20/20 cricket. It is unfortunate that the position of the WICB has from time to time been misrepresented in the media, so it may be helpful to restate our position.We have from day one sought whatever approvals were requested of us on behalf of the Stanford organisation from our international allies on the ICC Board. Where these were not forthcoming it was not from lack of effort on our part.Of course there is an inescapable reality in all this which is that Mr Stanford is a businessman. Whatever his desire to assist West Indies cricket this cannot be expected to occur without concern for a return on his investment. He has frankly acknowledged this. But marketing strategies, important as they are, can never be more important than the right development plan and scheduling for our teams and this has to be our primary consideration.We support 20/20. We admire the Stanford initiative and we are happy to hear that Mr Stanford is having fun, but however attractive the short-term benefits, these must fit in the overall plan for rebuilding West Indies cricket, not the other way round. Once this is understood and remains the common objective of us both, there is no reason whatever why a satisfactory formula should not be found.8. Digicel Contract: This contract has been a source of concern and has not operated in our favour. It has now been renegotiated with more favourable results for WICB. We expect to earn approximately US$2.6 million more per annum as a consequence. Even more significantly we have been able to negotiate out of the contract the offending clauses which had been inherited and we have included a termination clause which had not previously existed. Perhaps it is necessary to add a further word particularly since its passage was only secured by the use of my casting vote as president, the only occasion on which I have done so in my two-year term.Our administration met this contract mired in controversy. There was ongoing conflict over various interpretations resulting in unfavorable consequences to the WICB which led to earning even less than was expected from the contract. This led to high level intervention and eventually a complete transformation of Digicel’s approach which resulted in the renegotiation to which I have referred. Now a completely new environment exists between Digicel and ourselves and they have committed to additional projects which have already commenced. We now have a contract which is vastly superior and one we can with appropriate notice end when it is in our interest to do so.

9. Business Plan: The ingredients for our business plan are now all in place. This will be one of the early tasks of our CEO and his team and should prove an invaluable guideline to plot the way forward.10: Governance: And finally I address the issue of the governance of West Indies cricket. We commenced a review of the governance of the WICB a little more than one year ago. It was intended initially to reduce the size of the board by having one representative, instead of the two who now sit from each regional Board. It was proposed to fill the six vacancies that would have been created with a mix of outstanding achievers from throughout the caribbean. Immediately before the meeting it became clear that this proposal would not have obtained the necessary support. Our options were therefore to continue as we were going or add brandy to the water. We chose the latter and increased the existing number of directors by three. These gentlemen have served us most ably and I publicly thank Sir Alister McIntyre, Dr Grenville Phillips and Mr Clive Lloyd for their important contributions.Now we have moved to the second phase of the Governance review: A small high-powered committee led by former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable PJ Patterson, has been appointed to undertake this exercise and to make appropriate recommendations. The other members are Sir Alister McIntyre and Dr Ian McDonald. This is probably the most important committee the WICB has ever appointed for its remit is to chart a course that will move the structure of WI cricket from its largely untouched colonial antecedence into the challenging new world of highly-competitive professional cricket.The preliminary report which was submitted to the WICB on Saturday July 14 speaks volumes for the manner in which they have approached their task. Their Report was warmly received by the board.The opening statement of their report is “West Indies cricket does not belong to the WICB; it belongs to the people of the West Indies”. A message that goes to the heart of the wider involvement in the decision-making process which is now required.The Patterson committee has promised its final report by September 15. Meanwhile, the interim report will be discussed at the levels of the regional boards and their comments will have the opportunity of shaping the final recommendations of the committee. I have requested Mr Patterson to make one or other members of his committee available to the regional boards when the matter is being discussed and he is agreeable to doing so.It is also important to add that as popular as it has become to be critical of the West Indies Cricket Board, the decision to appoint this committee was one which was freely taken by the board of the WICB and the board must be commended for this.Gentlemen, let me end by saying that it has been an honour to have served West Indies Cricket. We have not achieved the ultimate objective of turning around the performance of our team, which has been sliding for more than a decade, but then it was always more a hope than an expectation that this could be done in two years. We have neither the foundation, the facilities for preparation and certainly not the professional end product which is so much more evident in the other major cricketing nations. Even more fundamentally we have not had the money to do these things and have barely been able to survive. But now we have changed that. There is a new dawn, with new opportunity to rebuild West Indies cricket and we must move forward aggressively to build on what is now in place.We can take satisfaction in the knowledge that we have lifted our environment from bankruptcy to financial viability; that the challenge of the World Cup has been successfully met and we have delivered where so many expected us to fail; that our 22-year discussed Academy will now become a fact of life on September 14; that the governments of the caribbean continuing the unprecedented collaboration inspired by the World Cup are committed to a start-up date of October 1, 2007 for the Caribbean Lotto; that the controversial Digicel contract has been favourably revised: that the path for the future can be guided by a realistic business plan and that the long overdue examination of the structure of West Indies Cricket, which is perhaps the most fundamental initiative of them all, is fully under way.These are conditions precedent to any serious expectations that West Indies Cricket can be restored to its former glory. Unfortunately, without foundation and structure, many have behaved like crabs in a barrel, who fight because they do not know how to get out of the barrel. Now, hopefully, that will begin to change for we have a road map.So it has not been smooth sailing and there have been very difficult moments. I have no apologies for this, for our structure has outlived its usefulness with its limitations and qualitative shortcomings. It is a sad truth that it is virtually impossible to discuss any serious matter at board level without having this leaked to the media. On one occasion a sensitive decision was leaked and reproduced in the media while the meeting which took the decision was still in progress. At another level, one of our independent members was sufficiently moved recently to write to another director who was the source of some 14 emails sent over eight days to remind him that our role is to serve West Indies cricket rather than feed individual egos and that behaviour is all part of a deliberately disruptive pattern. Fortunately, it comes from a very small pocket of the board.So the governance/constitutional exercise now taking place is of critical importance and cannot be over emphasised for I am convinced that without changes to the structure in place everything else would have been in vain. The ultimate challenge then is one to which you the people who love cricket in the West Indies must respond.The WICB has opened the door for fundamental change, the Patterson Committee is in place to facilitate a new direction now, you must ensure that the process of consultation be widespread, constructive and successful.I say farewell. I thank PM Keith Mitchell of Grenada who, as chairman of the caricom prime ministerial sub-committee on cricket, has been of tremendous assistance in mobilising the support of Caribbean prime ministers. I thank so many of you on the board for your support. I thank the CEO and his team which I am confident will serve you well and wish the new President and his administration every success.”