West Indies board to speak soon on task force report

The West Indian team showing a united front at the toss in an ODI against India

St. John's (Antigua), Jan 10 (IANS) The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will for the first time speak on the report submitted by the task force that was commissioned to investigate the controversial abandoned India tour last year.

In a release, the WICB said it had now studied the report in its entirety and would make "a specific announcement relating to the way forward following the Saturday meeting", reports CMC.

The board will convene its first meeting of the year on Saturday – recommendations of the Patterson Report, the Governance Committee report and the task force recommendations.

Following the chaos of the India tour last October, the WICB commissioned the task force, chaired by Michael Gordon QC, to investigate the reasons behind the players' action and to make recommendations on the way forward. Former WICB president and Windies legend, Wes Hall, and prominent Barbadian lawyer Richard Cheltenham, also sat on the task force.

The findings were presented to the WICB at a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last December, with the WICB, the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and the players, all found to be at fault for the abandoned tour.

However, the report drew strong criticism from players' attorney Ralph Thorne, who described it as "flawed".