PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

A FORMER chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) believes the number of directors is too large and certainly causes problems to the players and management.

Bruce Aanensen feels there is also too much interference from the directors of the WICB.

"Eighteen directors, each having their own opinion, makes it impossible for the working members of the board to do their jobs properly," he said.

Aanensen added that the working environment lacks productivity and causes confusion, since there is constant rehashing of executive decisions.

Better decisions

"The situation at the WICB is not conducive to productivity and if there isn't a change the problem will continue to exist," he said.

"If there are less members on the WICB, it will surely result in better and quicker implemented decisions. I think that the WICB should seriously look into the Patterson Committee Report and change the structure of the organisation."

Aanensen made a less than favourable comparison of his stint with the WICB to his tenure as the manager of the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors that reach the FIFA World Cup Finals in Germany last year.

"My football management duties were well-defined, and I only had to report to one person, which resulted in better decision making and successful administration of a team," he said.

Aanensen's short tenure at the WICB was dominated with public spats between himself and the executive president of the West Indies Players' Association, Dinanath Ramnarine. They had numerous battles concerning tour contracts and sponsorship deals.

He added that a lack of professionalism may be one of the causes of the downfall in West Indies cricket.

Aanensen believes that the only way to improve regional cricket is to improve the standard of the cricket competitions constantly.

He said that a professional league should be implemented, along with team franchises, so more cricket could be played at the highest level and give more exposure to cricketers.