A regional dispute over cricket governance intensified last week after former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves sharply criticized Cricket West Indies (CWI), accusing the body of poor decision-making and straying from its historic role.
Speaking on a Barbados-based radio programme last Tuesday, Gonsalves backed concerns raised by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley over CWI’s decision to exclude Barbados from hosting matches in an upcoming regional series featuring Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan.
The series, scheduled from June to August, will include Test matches, One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals across Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana, but will not feature matches at Barbados’ Kensington Oval.
“You can’t have three teams coming to the Caribbean and Barbados doesn’t get a game,” Gonsalves said. “I’m not Bajan, but I will say that if you’re having three teams come into the region, Barbados should get a game.”
Gonsalves also raised concerns about governance within CWI, questioning the dual role of its president, Kishore Shallow, as both a government minister and head of the cricket body. He described the arrangement as “a clear conflict of interest.”
In a broader critique, Gonsalves described CWI as “a private-sector company which arrogantly and exclusively presumes to run the public good known as cricket,” adding that the organization has been “a disaster on all material fronts.”
He further argued that CWI derives its authority from the International Cricket Council rather than the Caribbean people, and characterized the regional body as “neocolonial,” claiming it has lost sight of the historic mission of West Indies cricket.
The comments add to growing political pressure on CWI and deepen a widening rift between regional leaders and cricket’s governing body, as debate over governance, accountability and the future direction of the sport in the Caribbean continues.
