ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

A STAKEHOLDERS' meeting next March is expected to see the creation of a new governing structure for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), one which authorities hope will streamline the smooth running of the game in the region.

This was the main development coming out of the 15th meeting of CARICOM's Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket staged here on Wednesday under new chairman, Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer. Spencer, who has replaced former Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell after a four-year stint, said the new governing structure would be fleshed out after the Governance Committee's report and the WICB's Draft Strategic Plan were both evaluated.

"Out of that (meeting) will come hopefully an understanding as to how we are going to proceed with the creation of a new governance structure for the West Indies Cricket Board and in the meantime the expectation is that the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee will meet at least once to receive a report from the president of the WICB," Spencer said following the meeting.

"The hope is that this mechanism will be formalised to the extent where you may even have a structure that calls for two meetings of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee annually, but at least one will be held at which the president of the West Indies Cricket Board will report to the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee." Spencer said in reviewing the Governance Report and the WICB's Draft Strategic Plan on Wednesday, the meeting had found 'areas of agreement' between the two, but governance remained the key point of discussion going forward.

Major areas of agreement

"What came out of our deliberations are that there are major areas of agreement between the committee's report and the Draft Strategic Plan that has been put forward by the West Indies Cricket Board," Spencer noted.

"The issue of the development of a governing structure that will drive the process of West Indies cricket in the future is a matter that will occupy the attention of the board moving forward."

The Governance Committee comprises former Jamaican prime minister P.J. Patterson, Dr Ian McDonald, and Sir Alister McIntyre. Last year, they submitted the Governance Report, a list of recommendations on how the game should be managed in the Caribbean.

Spencer said following discussion with stakeholders, a council would be created to form part of the governing structure. He emphasised, however, that this unit would not take priority over the WICB.

"The Governance committee will have an opportunity to further interact with stakeholders and make an input, coming out of which a decision will be taken to create a council that will be part of the governing structure for West Indies cricket, going forward," the Antiguan leader explained.

"As it stands now, the Board is the shareholder of the company if you like, and what you need is to get the stakeholders involved at the broadest possible level."

Wednesday's meeting, staged at the Prime Minister's office here, was attended by Patterson, Sir Alister and Sir Hillary Beckles, principal of the UWI Cave Hill Campus. WICB president Julian Hunte and chief executive Donald Peters were also in attendance.