PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – In a pointed rebuttal, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, has dismissed latest remarks made by Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dr. Kishore Shallow, who claimed that CARICOM governments have did not adequately help the area’s cricket improvement.
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Dr. Rowley, who as soon as chaired CARICOM’s Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket, expressed deep shock at what he described as misdirected criticism from the top of the regional governing physique for cricket.
“Shocked” by Shallow’s accusations
“I’m fairly stunned that Dr. Shallow, within the face of a administration catastrophe at Cricket West Indies, may establish CARICOM governments as the issue,” Dr. Rowley mentioned throughout an interview on Isports on i95.5 FM. “I don’t wish to fake to talk for CARICOM, as I not maintain these positions, however I need to say — that’s not a good evaluation.”
His feedback are available in response to statements made by Dr. Shallow on WESN TV’s Face of Sports activities, the place the CWI President argued that regional infrastructure was lagging and inadequate focus had been positioned on grassroots, faculty, and club-level cricket.
Dr. Shallow contended that CWI didn’t have the assets to overtake these basic areas by itself and that such improvement “will not be the duty of CWI or the territorial boards.” As a substitute, he argued, nationwide governments wanted to step up and do extra.
Governments have already proven help, says Rowley
Dr. Rowley rejected the notion that governments had been absent from the cricket improvement dialog. As a substitute, he pointed to latest collaborative efforts involving regional heads of state and CWI.
“So far as I’m conscious, CARICOM governments — after I was concerned — together with Dr. Keith Mitchell of Grenada, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent, and President Irfaan Ali of Guyana, all labored alongside CWI,” he famous.
He referenced a high-level assembly hosted in Trinidad throughout his tenure, which introduced collectively key stakeholders to chart a means ahead for Caribbean cricket. “That was a singular state of affairs,” he recalled. “We introduced lots of people right here… and tried to untangle the net that’s West Indies’ confusion in cricket.”
Infrastructure and improvement are government-led by nature
Rowley emphasised that a lot of the cricket infrastructure throughout the area — notably on the junior and faculty ranges — already relies upon closely on state funding and administration.
“Cricket within the Caribbean in school stage and junior stage is essentially a authorities factor,” he mentioned. “The services, the infrastructure, typically are government-owned, and governments give large help.”
His remarks underscored a central theme: that CARICOM’s position has been supportive, not obstructive, and that the true introspection should happen inside CWI itself.
A name for accountability on the prime
Whereas Dr. Rowley stopped in need of immediately assigning blame to CWI, his feedback mirrored a broader frustration with management deflection. “I’m not certain precisely what CWI is anticipating from CARICOM governments,” he mentioned pointedly, “as they run the present of making an attempt to compete in worldwide Check cricket.”
The talk continues
The alternate has reignited long-standing discussions about who holds duty for the decline and revival of West Indies cricket. Because the area continues to seek for solutions to its cricketing decline, one factor is obvious: the trail ahead calls for unity, transparency, and accountability — not finger-pointing.
