Wehby wants WICB to act on Patterson Report

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

Don Wehby, group chief operating officer of GraceKennedy Limited, has called on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to immediately deal with the Patterson Report, among other things, in an effort to rescue West Indies cricket from its present state of embarrassing performances.

Speaking at the Jamaica Cricket Association annual awards dinner on Thursday night at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Wehby said that in recent years, West Indies cricket has left the fans "disheartened, embarrassed, and angry", and the only way to change that is to accept the Patterson Report which was commissioned by the WICB and delivered in 2007.

The Patterson Report was mandated to make recommendations to improve the overall operations, governance, effectiveness, team performance of the West Indies team, and to strengthen the sport's credibility and public support.

It did all that and more, but little has come from the board in response.

One of the things which the Patterson Report dealt with was the structure of the board. It recommended changes for it to function properly, and nothing has happened since.

According to Wehby, the business side of West Indies cricket has been neglected by a board that is not moving with the times.

West Indies cricket is a business

"Sports is changing, or has changed, and West Indies cricket needs to change or risk being left further behind. We can no longer view cricket as just a sport. It is, in fact, a business; it is the product, and without buyers for the product, the business is not viable. The challenge facing the board is to keep the consumers interested.

"Proper governance structures and strategising are essential to any business and, therefore, essential to cricket's future success," said Wehby, who reminded the gathering that after three years, the board is still to deal with the Patterson Report, despite the problems which are clear to everyone.

"What is clear is that a continuance of the status quo will not lead to the radical change we need in West Indies cricket. Radical change comes from decisive action that flows from a strong vision and I do not believe that the current draft strategic plan of the West Indies Cricket Board is not strong enough to bring about radical change," said the business maestro.

"Once we have a strong strategic plan in place, we can focus on improving the earning power of the sport in the Caribbean," continued Wehby.

He said those earnings will come from fan support, sale of television rights, sponsorship, and merchandising, once the team is performing at a high standard.

India's cricket is rich, it is estimated at around US$2 billion in value, and Wehby suggested to the WICB and the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), that it would not be a bad idea to forge a friendship with them.

To a backdrop of applause, Wehby also recommended that the JCA produces audited accounts with notes, 90 days after year end as required by publicly-listed companies and that those accounts be published for public scrutiny.