ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC): Ricky Skerritt was returned unopposed as president of Cricket West Indies (CWI) along with vice-president Dr Kishore Shallow at the regional governing body’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Sunday. They are now set to serve a second successive term at the helm.
The move was always on the cards once their challengers, Anand Sanasie of Guyana and Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) vice-president Calvin Hope, dropped out of the race last week.
Both the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the BCA, which had snubbed the AGM, forcing a postponement because of the lack of a quorum, were present at Sunday’s meeting.
“I am humbled and deeply honoured to be re-elected to serve as CWI president for a second term,” Skerritt, a former tourism minister in St Kitts and Nevis, said.
“I take the responsibility to lead the board of this prestigious organisation most seriously. We have much unfinished work to do, and we renew our pledge to work untiringly to help achieve sustainable improvement, both on and off the field, for West Indies cricket.”
Shallow, the president of the Windward Islands Cricket Board, said the victory was one for the development of West Indies cricket.
“I am again grateful for the continued support of the member representatives for Ricky and myself,” he said.
“This re-election is a victory for West Indies cricket as we continue on the path of growing the game across the region and achieving good outcomes on all fronts and at all levels.”
Skerritt and Shallow had been widely expected to win re-election at the AGM on May 28, but the representatives from the GCB and the BCA did not turn up for the virtual meeting, leaving the meeting short of the required quorum of nine.
Both boards subsequently indicated their displeasure with the late distribution of the audited financial statements by CWI, arguing that the documents had not been received the required 14 days in advance.
CWI chief executive Johnny Grave subsequently rejected those assertions and pointed out that the audited financial statements had indeed been sent within the required time frame while the consolidated statements had been issued 48 hours before the meeting.
Skerritt assumed office back in 2019 when he defeated three-term incumbent Dave Cameron in a hotly contested election in Jamaica.