West Indies cricket is proving to be a soap opera that doesn't seem to stop serving up juicy plot lines for all those who enjoy seeing the interactions of people who have nothing but disdain for each other. For those, like myself, who care about West Indies cricket, the whole episode is sickening.
Dinanath Ramnarine, President and CEO of WIPA wrote to Ken Gordon, WICB President calling for WICB CEO Bruce Aanensen's replacement. Ramnarine claimed that Aanensen's "negative" leadership style made it impossible to deal with him. Ramnarine pointed to Aanensen's publicly calling the players "incompetent" in the middle of a tour, the bungling of the arrival of the ODI players in England and the mishandling of the canceled A team tour to Zimbabwe, the tussle with the selectors about whether Gayle or Ganga would be captain of the ODI side in England among other "highlights" of Aanensen's 3 month stint as CEO. (Aside: going back over this list makes me really wonder how this man still has a job!). Ramnarine's letter was summmarily dispatched/leaked? to media outlets. Aanensen later denied the report of him calling the players incompetent on Jamaican radio on Tuesday of this week, saying that he was quoting a remark by Viv Richard's. That reporter must certainly be incompetent then, as this direct quote was attributed to Aanensen:
The players are not doing the job but they want more money despite being incompetent.
Gordon then promptly replied to the media and sided with his appointee, noting that he was satisfied that there was no basis to Ramnarine's charge of a "negative management style". Gordon may very well be the only person familiar with the situation that believes that statement.
But Gordon didn't stop there, as after saying that he "invested a considerable amount of time in attempting to build a relationship" with WIPA, he then launched into a personal attack on Ramnarine, accusing Ramnarine of being "abusive to Deryck Murray" at negotiations and of calling Gordon a liar in front of board members. The tone of Ramnarine's and Gordon's letters stand in stark contrast: Ramnarine pointed to facts that can be easily supported and documented, while Gordon relied on verbal claims that would be difficult to prove. It is also worth noting that Gordon has waited until 2 weeks before he bows out to make these claims.
Now, the evidence would suggest that Gordon and his team have been incompetent in their leadership of the WICB, but we have no reason to believe that Gordon is a liar, so it would stand to reason that there is truth in his statements about Ramnarine's abrasiveness. Certainly, nothing productive can come from a relationship where one party, if Gordon is to be believed, is as abrasive as Ramnarine is. And if there is ever going to be a meaningful relationship between the WICB and WIPA then either Ramnarine has to improve his interpersonal skills or be replaced.
Gordon's personal lashing of Ramnarine has been picked up by media outlets in the region such as the Jamaica Gleaner and the Trinidad Express. The Gleaner's lambaste was particularly harsh on Ramnarine as a person, player and "trade unionist" and was gleefully circulated via email by the WICB's Corporate Secretary and re-published on the WICB's website, despite Gordon's words in his letter that "It is of the utmost importance that organizations like WIPA and WICB should work closely together". Perhaps the Gleaner's and the Express' backing of Gordon in this case is not surprising given the fact that Gordon was once the managing director of the Express and that he "had also been instrumental in the establishment of a number of regional media houses including ones in Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados".
As the dust settles in this case, it is clear to everyone looking on that the principals in this situation have little regard for each other and that the atmosphere is so poisoned that any meaningful relationship between the WICB and WIPA is impossible at this time. Gordon will soon be gone, but Aanensen and Ramnarine will still be standing, and it seems as if both men need to seriously look at how they deal with each other. In fact, a cheeky person might say that the only difference between Ramnarine and Aanensen is that Ramnarine is actually competent at what he does.
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