Tidal wave of dissent sweeps West Indies

Tony Cozier in Barbados finds dangerous divisions in the 12 nations

As England can attest, nothing more sharply identifies a struggling team than the constant leadership changes they make as they seek the elusive formula for success.

As they have gone from one thrashing to another in every corner of the globe these past five years, West Indies have had four captains and four coaches. Physios, psychiatrists and assistant coaches have come and gone. The chief executive of 18 years, Stephen Camacho, was replaced just over a year ago.

The most fundamental shift of all came last weekend when Pat Rousseau, the 67-year-old Jamaican attorney who had been West Indies Cricket Board president since 1996, and his vice-president, Clarvis Joseph, an Antiguan business executive, resigned. In effect, they were booted out by the board, who will now seek a new president and vice-president at an election set for 21 July. Whoever takes over faces an enormous challenge at a time when West Indies cricket, on and off the field, is at as low an ebb as it has ever been.

Rousseau and Joseph quit over the sacking of team manager Ricky Skerritt 15 months into a three-year contract following heavy, successive defeats in England and Australia and in the Caribbean against South Africa. But the signs were clear for some time that the board were unhappy with Rousseau's style of leadership.

Chetram Singh, who heads the Guyana board, spoke last year of "dissatisfaction with the authoritarian way the board is managed" and of "dictatorship at the top".

Rousseau, Joseph and chief executive Gregory Shillingford made the decision to dismiss Skerritt on their own ­ Shillingford advising the manager of his fate by e-mail ­ and members challenged both their judgement and their authority to act without board approval. By a big majority, they ordered Skerritt to be reinstated.

"In our opinion, the board's position directly challenged our competence and our integrity in carrying out the process," Rousseau and Joseph said in a joint statement. Rousseau left after five turbulent years in office charging that "West Indies cricket is rife with insularity" and claiming there was a conspiracy to get rid of him.

Yet throughout his term there was a strong feeling in the southern Caribbean that he was responsible for the "Jamaicanisation" of West Indies cricket. The director of coaching, Reg Scarlett, and the head of marketing, Chris Dehring, were Jamaican. Another Jamaican, Jeffrey Dujon, the stylish wicketkeeper of an earlier era, was made assistant coach, and even the first full-time scorer was Jam-aican. These are petty issues elsewhere but not in West Indies cricket, comprised, as it is, of 12 fully independent nations.

Rousseau came to office with little background in cricket, but with a reputation as successful head of the board's marketing committee, where he negotiated new television and sponsorship deals. He immediately dropped the word "control" from the board's title, promised a "new dispensation" and, with strong credentials as a director of several companies in Jamaica, soon changed the structure to an incorporated company. But he didn't get the full support of the board, who became uncom-fortable with his domineering methods.

"The restructuring has run into resistance and the process has gone slowly," he said last week. "The board must accelerate the process if it is to operate successfully in the new situation in world cricket and meet the attendant obligations."

He also made no progress in the goals he set himself from the start. "The board desperately needs a lift and a new vision and direction," was the way he put it when first elected. "Our aim should be to unify the board, the territories and the players behind the objective of producing the best cricket team in the world." After five years, the board was clearly as divided as ever. And the team are certainly far from regaining their position as the best in the world.

Rousseau has won the 2007 World Cup for West Indies, overseen a renewed three-year contract worth $8.3m with team sponsors Cable & Wireless, and a four-year broadcasting rights deal of $40m with BSkyB. But the passionate West Indian public wanted results on the field, and his board a less abrasive manner from their president.