The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association will hold a special meeting on Saturday at which the fate of president Julian Jack is expected to be decided.
The meeting is in response to a petition by Smashers Cricket Club, an affiliate of the Cricket Association, calling for a vote of no confidence in Jack and subsequently immediate fresh election of the entire executive body.
In a May 5 letter to secretary of the SVG Cricket Association, Samuel Holder, captain of Smashers Cricket Club, Marvin Harry called for the vote of no confidence, saying, “Our club feels that all other options have been exhausted.”
During the more than 10 years that Jack has been at the held of the SVG Cricket Association, the sport has “steadily deteriorated in terms of performance, morale, direction, damaging the perception of SVGCA’s integrity, and most vision,” Harry said.
“We feel the damage is such that it is not repairable under his leadership,” harry further said.
He said Jack has provided “no short-term or strategic plan for SVG cricket, and has displayed a distinct lack of leadership.
“His poor headship continues to disintegrate our local cricket and offers no roadmap for improvement of our next generation of players, both male and female.”
In outlining specific reasons why Jack should be deposed, Harry spoke of “the dismal state of youth cricket”, saying that the national Under-15 team has not won a game for over three years, and has placed last for over seven consecutive years.
“The president has refused to take full responsibility for this, instead leaving team management over the years to take the blame unfairly.
SVG has not won the tournament since 2003, after winning 5 years n a row.
He further said “lack of interest and incompetent chairmanship of the female committee has instigated the decline of female cricket”, and complained about a “failure to establish a comprehensive development programme for our national players and all players on a whole”.
Jack has refused to increase prize money, but continues to spend monies unnecessarily, listing as examples, “big screen TV at the cricket office, ongoing cable with sports package, overstaffed office, etc.,” Harry said.
He said there is conflict of interest in Jack holding a significant amount of the SVGCA’s money with the financial institution that he manages, and the use of the SVGCA’s office to support the operations of private distribution of cricket equipment for return of cash.
Harry also complained about “failure” to demonstrate comprehensive management and accountability of the Grassroot programme money, “refusal” to address the issue of scoring in local cricket, failure to assign official scorers to matches and also to successfully effect the use of electronic devices.
He further said there was a failure to establish an efficient relationship with National Sports Council to enable a smooth flow of local cricket, and further spoke of “the continued bias blatantly shown to the president’s cricket teams (Radcliffe), e.g. the only club to receive special grant from the WICB of an estimation of US$5,000, in addition to equipment…
“The list of examples is by no means all inclusive; rather it serves as examples of concerns,” Harry said.
“SVG Cricket is an important element of our country, and it is imperative that we have a serious, committed, and efficient person at the helm. My club is confident that a new president of the SVGCA can lead, manage, and restore our cricket to the high level and standard that we experienced under the previous president, and can even move beyond with the new available opportunities today. Our cricketers and country deserve better,” Harry further said.
I-Witness News was reliably informed that Kishore Shallow has been canvassing to replace Jack as head of the association.
Saturday’s meeting takes place at the Media Centre, Arnos Vale Sporting complex. It is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.