Ricky Skerritt ends Dave Cameron's six-year reign to take over as CWI president

Dave Cameron's controversial reign as the Cricket West Indies president has finally come an end after six years. Pitted against just one challenger, former West Indies team manager Ricky Skerritt, Cameron lost by an 8-4 margin after the elections were conducted through a secret ballot on Sunday.

Emmanuel Nanthan, who was also standing for a fourth term as Cameron's deputy, was beaten by the same margin by Kishore Shallow, an entrepreneur and president of the St Vincent & The Grenadines Cricket Association. Both Skerritt, who is 62, and Shallow, 35, are also CWI directors.

Cameron had to swallow the embarrassment of defeat on home turf - he is understood to have moved the CWI annual general meeting to Jamaica. The turnaround might have come as a shock for Cameron, who was part of the CWI for 17 years, and took charge as board president in March 2013 replacing Julien Hunte, before which he was a vice-president of the board. Cameron served in the president's seat for three terms.

Incidentally, when the nominations for the elections were closed on February 24, Cameron and Nanthan were nominated twice: by the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control (WICBC) and seconded by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), with the second hand of backing coming from his native Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), subsequently seconded by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA).

The opposition camp of Skerritt and Shallow were nominated by the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB) and seconded by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB).

ESPNcricinfo understands that before the elections began on Sunday, one of the two representatives from TTCB raised a motion to conduct the voting through a secret ballot. It received majority support, thus deepening the mystery over who exactly voted for Cameron or Skerritt.

Each of the six territorial boards (JCA, BCA, WICB, LICB, TTCB and GCA) had two votes each, and the votes can be cast by two representatives nominated by each of the territorial boards.

In a brief statement issued by CWI, both Skerritt and Shallow said they were "humbled" by the victory. While Skerritt said the new administration would "pledge to work for improvement on and off the field for West Indies cricket", Shallow claimed the change of guard was a "victory for West Indies cricket".

On February 21, Skerritt announced his intention to challenge the Cameron administration, motivated primarily to nip the latter's plan to "implement sweeping changes to the democratic process of decision-making" in Caribbean cricket. Skerritt said Cameron's desire to take "executive control" was "troubling".

"His desire to lead CWI as a full-time executive, is not reflective of the West Indies cricket ethos," Skerritt and Shallow had said in an inaugural email to launch their campaign. "By advancing his plans for an autocratic leadership structure, which marginalises the role of commercially recruited executives, the incumbent has placed his personal thinking diametrically opposed to the values of West Indies cricket."

       Dave Cameron (L) and Emmanuel Nanthan, the outgoing
CWI president and vice-president

In their manifesto, Skerritt and Shallow also stated that they would propose capping the tenure of the CWI presidency to a maximum of six years. "I am convinced that a presidential term limit will remove much of the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the cricket politics and excesses that too often surround the office of president," Shallow had said at the time.

In a parting note, issued by CWI, Cameron and Nanthan noted the board members had "trusted" them to "safeguard" the West Indies team, "the region's most valuable asset".

Listing some of their achievements, the pair said they were "happy" to be leaving having handed contracts to 123 players, creating a "home" for the board at Coolidge Cricket Grounds in Antigua, overseeing West Indies men's team winning the recent Test series against England at home and the "world championships" which included the twin men's World T20s titles which Darren Sammy's team won in 2012 and 2016 as well as the women's World T20 and Under-19 World Cup in 2016.

"More than anything else we have a fit youthful team that is prepared to face the world," Cameron and Nanthan said in the statement.

It remains to be seen, though, whether the players, especially some of the senior ones like Sammy, would agree with Cameron's self-appraisal. Sammy is among several senior West Indies players who have had fallouts with Cameron. The biggest player revolt against Cameron took place in 2014 when Dwayne Bravo and his squad decided to abandon the tour of India over contractual disputes with CWI.

Cameron also played a big role in the suspension and eventual sacking of head coach Phil Simmons in 2016 under controversial circumstances. Simmons, who is currently Afghanistan coach, has claimed damages worth more than US $300,000. Simmons said he was seeking damages for constructive dismissal.

More recently, Cameron played a big hand in getting Richard Pybus as the interim head coach at least until August, a period that encompasses the 2019 World Cup and India's visit to the Caribbean. His appointment came in the wake of Stuart Law leaving the position last December, despite his contract being till the upcoming World Cup, which will be held from May to July.

Pybus, who was West Indies' high-performance director, has never been popular in the Caribbean, with former West Indies opener Desmond Haynes publicly asking Cameron whether the job had been advertised

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Chris Jordan hopes his World Cup ship 'hasn't sailed'

He may have been all but pigeon-holed as a 20-over specialist but, having done everything he could to thrust his name to the forefront of selectors' minds in England's opening T20I win over West Indies, Chris Jordan hopes his ODI World Cup ship has not sailed.

With the T20 World Cup more than 18 months away, the three-match T20I series in the Caribbean represents little more than bonus entertainment for a fan base already spoiled by the excitement of the preceding three Tests and four ODIs, and a chance for both nations to hone their thinking about the ODI World Cup starting at the end of May - West Indies have even retained their ODI squad and captain for the T20I series.

Jordan has not played an ODI in more than two years and his latest feats did come in the shorter format, but they reminded interested onlookers of his value with the ball and in the field.

For his part, Jordan said it was all about "enjoyment" and it was easy to see why. He removed Chris Gayle cheaply for the first time since the ODI Player of the Series returned to the fold for West Indies' limited-overs campaigns against England, and dismissed Darren Bravo with a brilliant a caught-and-bowled to finish with 2-16 off three overs.

"The Caribbean is a lovely place to play cricket, my family will be here watching most games, just enjoy it and let results take care of themselves," the Barbadian-born Jordan said, adding that he remained hopeful of securing a World Cup berth. "I hope the ship hasn't sailed. I can't get too far ahead in my thinking, I'm not that type of character. One game at a time and let the outcomes take care of themselves."

Jordan revealed he had spoken about his one-day prospects with national selector Ed Smith.

"I've had conversations with Ed when squads are being picked and he's always said I'm there or thereabouts, in the discussions," Jordan said. "That gives me encouragement. T20 cricket is what I'm involved with at the minute, anything past that I'll leave to the selectors and the captain."

Jordan was also hoping for the best for Jofra Archer, who was also born in Barbados and is expected to qualify for England under ECB residency rules in time for the World Cup, should he be selected.

"I speak to him every day, literally every day, he's like my little brother," Jordan said of 23-year-old Archer. "One of the things I admire about Jofra, for a kid so young he's got a good head on his shoulders. There is noise about him potentially playing in the series... if it happens I'm more than certain he'll rise to the occasion because he's that type of person and that type of character."

Jordan said he continued to work hard on his bowling and fielding, which was sharply in focus when he tempted Bravo with a newly developed slower ball and then changed direction on his follow through to take that spectacular one-handed catch sprawling to his right.

"That was good," Jordan said. "When I bowled the slower ball initially I wasn't sure if I was getting there. Then, the closer I got I realised I was getting there and it stuck in my hand.

"Not many catches are that easy, to be honest, you see them go down in games. You try to practice as much as possible, practice slip catching and outfield catching and when you get into game time when moments like that come you've almost played it over in your head already. I'm just glad it came off. I pride myself on my fielding in general. I do work hard on it."

And of the slower ball, he said: "Yeah, I have been adding a couple of slower balls to my arsenal. I don't want to give away too much on it given I got a wicket with it, but it's a new one."

Jordan had no qualms about not bowling at the death in the T20I series opener, which England won by four wickets with seven balls remaining. That role went to Tom Curran, who ended the match as the pick of the England bowlers, claiming 4-36 off his four overs.

"It's normally my role in the team, one or two (overs) in the Powerplay and two at the death, but my role is also to adapt and be versatile, be ready whenever the captain calls on me," Jordan said. "TC did a brilliant job, took four wickets and bowled a brilliant last over, but next time it might be me. That's the type of team we're in, we're not selfish characters and we just keep everyone improving.

Chris Jordan, England's forgotten World Cup option?

While all the talk in recent months has been of Jofra Archer's chances of forcing his way into England's World Cup squad, there is another Barbadian-born bowler who might be worth further consideration.

Chris Jordan has not played an ODI since September 2016. He does not bowl quite as fast as Archer and, aged 30, does not possess quite the same amount of long-term promise as his 23-year-old protégé.

But, as he showed in the first T20I of the series against West Indies, Jordan remains a highly skilled and experienced cricketer who might just be at the peak of his powers.

His key contribution in this game was taking the wicket of Chris Gayle. That was a feat that proved beyond his England colleagues for much of the ODI series (to be fair, they dismissed him in every innings but not before he had thrashed them into the stands a few times) and the manner in which he did so - a well-directed yorker just wide of off stump - suggested he had some skills which could prove valuable. Remember, England's seamers appeared either reluctant or unable to bowl the delivery on demand in the ODI series so Jordan's demonstration may have been timely. He had also hurried Gayle with a well-directed bouncer.

But the wicket of Darren Bravo was just as impressive. So bamboozled by Jordan's well-disguised slower delivery was Bravo, an experienced player, that he could only spoon the ball into the air. Jordan, demonstrating another part of his game that might give him an edge, made good ground and clung on to a one-handed diving catch. It was a reminder, if any were required, that he may be the best fielder available to England. Having such a man in the squad - even if they don't make the XI - must be useful.

In all, he delivered 10 dot balls from the 18 he bowled. He was hit for two boundaries; both from the hugely talented Nicholas Pooran.

It's perhaps worth comparing Jordan's performance with some of his apparent rivals for a spot in the World Cup squad. David Willey used the new ball well here, generating just enough movement to prevent Gayle from sizing him up, and came in at No. 7 to see England over the line. He didn't bowl after the third over of the innings, though, and by then Gayle had struck two of his final four deliveries for six.

What can we read into that? Perhaps that, unless Willey takes one of the new balls, he is of limited use to the ODI side. He rarely bowls at the death and only twice in his last 25 ODIs has he delivered his full allocation of 10 overs. One of those occasions was in the defeat to Scotland in which he conceded 72.

And while his left-arm variation would be welcome, it seems unlikely he will dispossess the likes of Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and, perhaps, Archer in the tussle for that new-ball role.

Might it be relevant that Jordan didn't bowl at the death? Could it be that he was instead being given an opportunity to show what he could do in the middle-over period (he bowled the fourth, sixth and 14th overs) in which Liam Plunkett has been so proficient in recent years?

It's possible. Plunkett does seem to be in gentle decline and was England's most expensive bowler here. It would make sense if England were at least mindful of the need to consider alternatives, though it would be a surprise if he didn't make the squad.

It seems more likely that England simply had more trust in Tom Curran than Jordan at the death and view him as the more likely part of their World Cup plans. Eoin Morgan, the captain, later explained that, with Pooran recently dismissed, Curran's slower balls to a pair of new batsmen were simply the better option available to him.

Curran ended up with four wickets, too, as reward for his control and variations. Plunkett and Jordan do not offer quite the same package of skills, either, with Plunkett's height and back-of-a-length cutters having a proven track record. Jordan's variations are impressive, though, and he probably could offer England options in all portions of an ODI innings.

We probably have to be careful about making assumptions regarding ODI suitability from a T20 match. Jordan bowled only three overs, after all. But some of the skills - the control, the variation, the ability to perform under pressure - are clearly transferable.

It's certainly not a simple case of Archer and Jordan competing for one place in the World Cup squad. There could, in theory, be room for both or indeed, neither. As things stand, England are considering the likes of Liam Dawson and Joe Denly as spin-bowling all-rounder.

But is there really any need for a third spinner in a 15-man squad? With Joe Root capable of supporting Adil Rashid - who bowled beautifully here and would not have conceded a boundary had Curran not made a fearful hash on the fence - and Moeen Ali in the spin bowling positions and Alex Hales having the batting reserve spot all sewn up, it is a position that could instead go to another seamer. Jordan remains an outsider for that spot, but he didn't do himself any harm here.