Benjamin

Former West Indies fast bowler Kenny Benjamin says that one of the reasons West Indies cricket is suffering administratively is because the priorities of some of those who serve on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are not right.

According to Benjamin, who yesterday completed a two-day cricket clinic at Sabina Park, which was sponsored by Digicel, some members of the board appear to have other motives than cricket and this is affecting the effective administration of the sport.

"First, I think there are a lot of incompetent people who are in important positions.

"Second, I don't think cricket is the first priority of a number of persons who sit on the board, and because of this cricket administration matters gets pushed down the back burner," said Benjamin.

"A lot of them seem to be there as a result of political ambitions, for the monetary rewards such as perks and travelling and profiling to say that they serve on the board.

"If you check it nothing is happening as it relates to the progress of West Indies cricket and no one wants to leave the board. Why? It seems as if something is good for them in there. Cricket is not benefiting, the benefits seems to be going somewhere else," he added.

Asked to comment on the statements made by Benjamin, WICB vice-president, Dave Cameron, neglected to go into details, saying the profiles and accomplishments of the WICB directors are online and speak for themselves.

"I didn't hear the comment and I would want to leave that one alone. I am not in Jamaica and I don't know in what context his comments were made," said Cameron initially.

Commenting further, he said: "Additionally, I don't think I need to respond to that. What you do is look at the WICB website and search through the listing of the directors on the board and see what their attributes are."

But Benjamin, who played 26 Tests and 26 one-day internationals, and who is also the territorial development officer for the Leeward Islands, said it's irrelevant what the websites say as the decline of West Indies cricket is there for everybody to see.

Boys' club

"We need to change the way we do things. A lot them will not agree, but the WICB is nothing but a boys' club which operates on privileges rather than performance. When they meet it is more about what you can do for me and what I can do for you, rather than what we need to do for cricket.

"Each territory needs to ask themselves: If the directors are not there for cricket development, what purpose do they serve?

"We need to look at what qualifies someone to be a WICB director," he continued. "Is it popularity? There needs to be better screening of who each member selects to represent the game," he noted.