Lloyd fails in latest WICB presidency bid

Julian Hunte and Whycliffe Cameron of Jamaica will contest the WICB presidential elections after former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd failed in his nomination bid. To secure a nomination, a candidate needs the backing of two full members (regional boards) and Lloyd only had the approval his native Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) before the deadline for filing the application expired on February 22. The elections will be held as part of the WICB AGM, on March 27 in Barbados.

The presidential race is now a two-way fight between Hunte, who currently heads the WICB, and Cameron, who is vice-president. According to the amended rules of the WICB, none of the directors, who are part of the executive board, have voting powers from this year. That was one of the recommendations of the Wilkins Committee report, which was ratified by the board at its last meeting. Each of the six regional boards (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands) have selected two representatives who are allowed to vote, with the new president to be elected via a secret ballot.

Clive Lloyd, pictured here with Bishan Bedi, has
failed in his second bid for the WICB presidency.

The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president, Joel Garner, who was an integral part of the dominating West Indies team of the 1970s and ‘80s that Lloyd led, has put his hat into the ring for the vice-president’s role. Garner, who is one of the WICB directors, will face-off against Dominican Emmanuel Nanthan, president of the Windward Islands Cricket Association.

This was Lloyd’s second failed attempt to get a nomination. In the past he was not allowed to enter the presidential race on the grounds that he did not satisfy the required residential conditions, as he was staying outside of the Caribbean at the time. This time Lloyd had fulfilled that obligation, having moved back to Guyana after been appointed by the government as chairman of the interim management committee formed in the aftermath of the disputed GCB elections in 2011.

Despite Lloyd calling the controversial GCB elections held on January 27 this year illegal, a special executive board meeting held last Thursday nominated him as its delegate for the WICB presidential elections. But Lloyd needed the one of the other five regional boards to second his nomination.

In his attempt to garner more support Lloyd had even sent his manifesto to the T&T and Barbados cricket boards. Titled ‘Clive Lloyd’s manifesto - WICB presidency’, the three-page document stressed that West Indies cricket desperately needed a “second growth curve” and argued he had the right expertise and international experience as a former professional cricketer and ICC administrator to lead the board.

“My vision for West Indies cricket is to take our cricket out of the doldrums and to put us back at the top. To use my expertise, knowledge of and passion for the game, my credibility, integrity and international professional standing and every moral fibre within to reverse the fortunes of our WI cricket,” Lloyd wrote.

He signed off the document by quoting Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister: “’To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents.’ Today I believe I have been ‘figuratively tapped’ and offered an opportunity to do a very special thing. Cricket is one of the great unifying forces in West Indian history and culture and I would like to offer my services to people of the West Indies as the next president of WICB.”

However, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board sidestepped the issue by deciding to act as a neutral observer instead of supporting any candidate, while the BCA’s stance remained unclear.