CMC:

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) has decided, in a shocking and sudden move, abandoned the West Indies Cricket Board's annual general meeting in Antigua.

The TTCB wrote to the WICB informing them that it would take no part in the two-day meeting.

The T&T cricket officials want to make a statement about its frustration and immense disappointment over how the game is being administrated regionally.

"It is a difficult decision that we made but we want to send a signal to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that this is not a time for business as usual," TTCB President Deryck Murray said Saturday night.

Boards motive

Speaking during the TTCB's awards dinner at President's House, Murray, a former West Indies wicketkeeper, said his board's move was not intended to create disunity but to trigger urgent changes in the regional governing body for cricket.

"I want to be clear. This is not a threat to the unity of West Indies cricket. In this time of crisis, we cannot afford to sit back and keep doing the same things over and over again. That is not doing anything for our cricket," Murray asserted.

"Our hope is that this move could be the catalyst for the change of West Indies cricket at the top.

They must understand that we, the board and the people of Trinidad and Tobago expect and demand that things be done differently from here on in," Murray added.

In the middle of a huge crisis in which the West Indies players are feuding with the board over payments and contracts that saw the top-flight players boycott the recent series against Bangladesh, the TTCB has now made this unprecedented move, intensifying the already catastrophic state of West Indies cricket.

The TTCB's letter to the WICB stated that over the past few years, the WICB and its administrative arm have not functioned effectively and have demonstrated little inclination to change, to meet the requirements of the modern cricket environment.

The letter further stated that the WICB is characterised by flawed relationships with sponsors and major partners, including the players, as well as an inability to attract sponsors for regional tournaments.

Other issues

Also at issue is the WICB-commissioned Patterson Report that made recommendations about the governance of West Indies cricket.

The TTCB believes the report has been largely ignored.

As the WICB's AGM got under way yesterday, news broke simultaneously that no settlement had been reached after the first phase of the mediation process to resolve the WICB's bitter dispute with the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) over payment and contracts.

The parties completed 25 hours of 'intense discussion' with mediator Sir Shridath Ramphal yesterday without reaching "overall agreement" on the issues in dispute between them.