While insisting that he will not be able to magically fix all the issues, newly-appointed Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Chris Dehring says he will do everything in his power to explore all options in an attempt to address challenges facing West Indies cricket.

Dehring, who expects scrutiny of his tenure to intensify overtime, acknowledged the importance of governance, accountability, and transparency but also highlighted resource gaps as the core issue facing the regional body.

“Come February 1, I expect the bouncers to come thick and fast. If they don’t come, it would mean the Caribbean has lost its passion for this game, which would be a disaster,” Dehring said on the Mason and Guest radio show.

“Those buzzwords, in my view, hide or mask the real challenges facing West Indies cricket. Even if we had the most perfect, transparent organisation with the most perfect governance system, it is not the core issue that faces West Indies cricket. It doesn’t mean that I am not going to focus on it and bring my own corporate experience to the (CWI) governance and so on, but it is not an easy governance structure to fix. It is not,” he added.

The Jamaican entrepreneur noted that CWI’s unique structure, representing multiple countries, makes governance inherently complex, as he pointed out that the primary challenge is the disparity in resources between West Indies cricket and other top cricketing nations like England, India, and Australia.

“It is a mini United Nations, and if the UN has challenges with governance and getting things done, you can understand why CWI has those challenges. Even if we have the perfect governance system, we are still going to have the issues of resource gap with our major cricketing countries,” Dehring said.

“The same infrastructure issues—education, health, and transportation—that we all suffer from too. So there is a job to be done on governance. I will try to input and lend my experience there, but there is a bigger picture that needs to be resolved as well,” he noted.

Dehring explained that the volunteer-run territorial boards also lack the professional structures seen in wealthier cricketing nations.

“I empathise tremendously with the cricket associations in our territories... But how do we help them bridge the gap now with what we need at a professional level? If you don’t have the resources, you are going to still have to rely tremendously on a volunteer programme across the Caribbean. These people are not professional sport administrators; in the main, they are not paid,” Dehring argued.

That said, Dehring underscored the need to build trust with stakeholders and territorial boards, as he lauded their dedication despite limited resources.

“I definitely want to first of all start to build the relationships, knowing that I understand some of the needs and the realities that we face. I can’t say that I have the magic wand, but the one thing that I do bring to the table is a willingness to explore options totally without emotion.

“All of your emotion has got to be how do we preserve this beautiful thing called West Indies cricket, and that’s my approach,” Dehring stated.

Finally, Dehring declared his intent to review and modernise the pathway from development to international cricket, a key area identified in CWI’s strategic plan.

“Identifying the challenge does not create a solution. We really have to explore every solution... everything that takes place, from your national pride, whether it is community pride, school pride, high school or primary school, all the elements along the production line,” he reasoned.

 “We need to try to modernise that production pipeline within the context of the resources that we have available at a national and international level,” Dehring ended.