Carl Hooper to lead West Indies

WICB Press release

THE DIRECTORS of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have at 5:30 p.m. today approved the recommendation of the selectors of Carl Hooper as captain of the West Indies cricket team.

The Board wishes to thank outgoing captain, Jimmy Adams, for his contribution and efforts in leading the West Indies team during a very testing period. We wish him the very best in the future.

WICB EXPLAINS CAPTAINCY APPOINTMENT PROCEDURE

"SELECTING the captain of the West Indies team is a democratic process involving the President, Vice President and all 12 directors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) who represent the 13 countries under the aegis of the WICB."

Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, Gregory Shillingford, noted this in explaining the time it took to appoint a captain for the upcoming Cable & Wireless Series against South Africa.

West Indies captains are appointed on a tour-by-tour basis thus the need to appoint a new captain for each tour. The Board had earlier indicated that the new captain for the series against South Africa would be appointed by the end of the week. This afternoon, Carl Hooper, was named as captain.

"The process first involved a recommendation by the selectors as to who they wished the directors to consider for the position. The recommendation had to be fully debated and discussed by the directors, some of whom needed to have further consultations within their respective territorial cricket boards. It was important that such an important appointment was fully ventilated and that the principle of democracy was upheld," Shillingford added.

The position of captain is the only member of the West Indies team that the Board reserves the right to approve. That is because of the importance and responsibility of this position both on and off the field, which necessitates the sometimes-lengthy process of democracy to ensure that the best available person is chosen for the job.

"The selectors made a recommendation but all the directors had to vote whether to accept or reject their recommendation," said Shillingford. "Until all the votes were in, we could not move forward with the process. We understood the anxiety of the public but we thank everyone for their patience while this very important appointment was fully discussed by all the territories."