Hope, the vice president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and a member of the board of CWI, was the running mate of presidential hopeful Anand Sanasie, the former secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board.
Their bid was scuppered earlier this week when the administration of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) was swept from power in elections that were being held for the first time in more than a decade. Bissoondyal Singh was elected the new Guyana Cricket Board president while Ronald Williams was installed as the new Secretary, replacing Sanasie.
In light of the development, Sanasie on Thursday issued a statement announcing his withdrawal from the race for the presidency with Hope issuing his own statement shortly thereafter.
“We remain firmly committed to, and passionate about, cricket and to focusing on what is in the best interest of the administration of West Indies cricket,” Hope said in his statement.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to the Guyana Cricket Board and the Barbados Cricket Association for nominating and supporting our intentions to run for the respective positions within CWI. We also thank our advisors, supporters, members of the media, and the CWI Full Member Territorial Boards for their time and positive interest given to us over the past weeks. We retain our pioneering spirit and look forward to a bright future for cricket in the West Indies.”
The AGM that was to have been held virtually on Sunday, March 28, was postponed until April 11, after the CWI board was unable to convene a quorum after the BCA and the GCB failed to have representatives present.
That meant that there were only eight shareholder members present when the CWI constitution requires a minimum of nine for a quorum. The dissenting boards claimed that the CWI failed to send audited financial statements in a timely manner and that did not give them enough time to peruse those financials in time for the AGM.
That, they said, was among the reasons for the decision to end their campaign.
“Given the unfortunate circumstances leading up to and recent events in Guyana regarding the Guyana Cricket Board, one of the six Full Members of CWI, together with the refusal by the leadership of CWI to uphold the highest standards, long-standing traditions and rules for governing the administration of West Indies cricket, we, Anand Sanasie and Calvin Hope, having distanced ourselves from such action of CWI, have decided to withdraw our respective candidacies for President and Vice President in the CWI election scheduled to take place at CWI 22nd Annual General Meeting on 11th April 2021,” Hope said.
“I am humbled and deeply honoured to be re-elected to serve as CWI President for a second term,” said Skerritt, whose leadership was briefly challenged by former Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board, Anand Sanasie.
“I take the responsibility to lead the Board of this prestigious organization, 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.”
Meanwhile, CWI Vice President said expressed gratitude for being able to continue to serve regional cricket.
“I am again grateful for the continued support of the member representatives for Ricky and myself. 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,” he said.
In addition to the election for President and Vice President, the following persons were duly elected as Member Directors of CWI:
Conde Riley – Barbados Cricket Association
Calvin Hope – Barbados Cricket Association
Bissoondyal Singh -– Guyana Cricket Board
Hilbert Foster – Guyana Cricket Board
Wilford Heaven – Jamaica Cricket Association
Dr Donovan Bennett – Jamaica Cricket Association
Enoch Lewis – Leeward Islands Cricket Board
Leon Rodney – Leeward Islands Cricket Board
Azim Bassarath – Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board
Arjoon Ramlal – Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board
Julian Charles – Windward Islands Cricket Board
Dwain Gill – Windward Islands Cricket Board
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting took place virtually via video conference. All of the Territorial Board Member Associations were fully represented.
Due to the continuing travel-related effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will again take place virtually via video conference, as was done in a COVID-19 delayed meeting last year.
It is also the day when incumbent CWI President Ricky Skerritt and Vice President Dr. Kishore Shallow, will face challenges from Anand Sanasie of the Guyana Cricket Board and Calvin Hope of the Barbados Cricket Association, respectively, for the leadership of the organization over the next two-year term.
“All arrangements are in place for a productive Annual General Meeting,” President Skerritt said.
“This is not the first time that CWI is hosting a virtual AGM but it will be the first time that our leadership elections will take place virtually. We have everything in place to ensure a constructive and proper meeting.”
Shareholder members are slated to receive reports from the Cricket, Commercial and Finance Committees and for the first time, audited financial statements which will be consolidated to reflect CWI’s acquisition of and interest in the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
A copy of the 2019/20 audited financial statements and the Annual Report will be made available to all stakeholders via CWI’s website - http://www.windiescricket.com – from Monday, March 29.
