Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Jackie Hendriks, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) executive committee member Jackie Hendriks believes that the new top brass is headed in the right direction in attempting to mend the much-publicised rift between the board and the players.

"One of the primary objectives should definitely be to restore the trust between the board and the players, over the last few years we have seen what is best described as a chasm develop," Hendriks told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

"We cannot continue to exist as two separate bodies. We must be headed in the same direction and share the same goals."

"It must be ensured that everybody is on the same page and obviously the success of the board will be reflected in the success of the players." he said.

Olive branch

Since being nominated, new president Julian Hunte has already offered an olive branch so to speak, with the appointment of West Indies Players' Association president, Dinanath Ramnarine, as one of four non-member directors,.

This is a move which Hendriks believes only time will tell the benefit of.

"It's much too early tosay as to whether that will be a fruitful endeavour or not. We'll see over time," he said "However, the important thing is that the players understand that we cannot be constantly at loggerheads as two crucial bodies heavily involved in the region's cricket."

Hendriks also believed that the board had fallen behind in terms of its goal of regional development and is of the opinion that the post of a development officer, abolished a few years ago, should perhaps be revisited.

"The fact is that the territories depend on the board for development. I think the last couple of years have seen us suffer from not having a real develop-ment arm of the board," Hendriks said. "Future West Indies players will come from the territories. If there aren't sufficient plans in place to assist these youngsters, West Indies cricket cannot prosper.

Proper training

"It is vitally important that our youngsters are properly trained. Too many of them end up with not only no grounding in the technical aspects of the game, but also no knowledge of the sport." he added.

Hendriks, a former Jamaica and West Indies wicketkeeper, also believed the organisation had a primary responsibility to try and get many of the region's youth acquainted with the sport.

"The pride of playing for the West Indies was important back in the days, I think we have lost a little bit of that and I suspect financial rewards drives the game a bit more these days," he said.

"However, we need to get our youngsters to appreciate the history of West Indies cricket, how it originated and it's importance to the region." he said.

Later this year, there could be even more changes in store for the structure of the WICB as an interim report by a governance committee last month had already suggested disbanding with the board in its current form.