Cricket fraternity waiting on answers By Tony Becca THE WEST Indies Cricket Board is in limbo. Following the resignation of Pat Rousseau and Clarvis Joseph, the Board is without a president, it is without a vice-president, and even with the best intention in the world it is diffuclt to act on important issues. If things go according to plan, however, things will be back to normal shortly. The plan is to elect a new president and a new vice-president on July 21, and the cricket fraternity is anxiously awaiting that day - not only to see who the new leader will be, but also that the Board can get down to business. One business that the Board needs to look at, and obviously to investigate, is the charge by Rousseau that two of its senior managers, chief financial officer Richard Jodhan and executive secretary Andrew Sealy, invested US$496,000 of the Board's money without the authority to do so and after being advised earlier not to invest US$100,000, invested US$3 million of the Board's money without the authority to do so, and that the Board lost a substantial amount on the investments. Rousseau also said that the two managers signed documents relating to the investments although they had no such authority and that they borrowed US$2 million although they had no such authority. The cricket fraternity wants to know if the charges are true, if the Board really lost money on the investment, and if it is true what action, if any, will be taken against those who acted without the authority to do so. The fraternity wants to know - especially as Jodhan is a member of the management committee running the affairs of the Board until things are back to normal and following the response by the Board to the charges. In its response, the Board said that it "would like to assure the public that there was never any evidence or even suggestion of dishonesty on the part of anyone involved in this matter and even Mr. Rousseau has been quoted as confirming this to be so in a recent interview". That is true, no question about it. At no time did Rousseau accuse anyone of dishonesty. What he accused the two senior managers of was acting without authority - of investing the Board's money without having or getting the authority to do so. What is also true is that nowhere in its response did the Board deny that money was invested and borrowed, that the transactions were done without the authority to do so, and that money was lost on the investment. Reading between the lines, however, it was obvious that as skillfully written as the response was, something went on that was not right - something that violated the rules of accountability and procedure. In its response, the Board stated that at the meeting of June 2, the meeting at which Rousseau and Joseph resigned, Jodhan verbally tendered his resignation as chief financial officer but no reason was given; that at a meeting on June 13, the management committee agreed that a discussion be held between Jodhan and representatives of the committee; that there was general agreement among Board members during discussions of the issue that accountability and procedures within the WICB need to be fully documented and the management committee took steps towards the development of such documentation. The cricket fraternity wants to know what moved Jodhan to tender his resignation, why has the Board agreed to have a discussion with Jodhan, and apart from the problem that led to the resignation of Rousseau and Joseph, why is the Board developing documentation on accountability and procedure. It appears that it all has to do with Rousseau's charges, and what the fraternity really wants is that there is no cover-up - that regardless of who votes for them, the new president, and the new vice-president, will act in the best interest of West Indies cricket. West Indies cricket cannot afford to lose money - certainly not because of investments that were not authorised, and certainly not at this time when, with the team suffering from the lack of quality players, so much is needed at the grassroots level. The new president, whoever he will be, has a wonderful opportunity early in his innings to show that he possesses the strength of character necessary to lead a Board whose members, most of them, are insular and without vision.
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