EDITORIAL - Dave Cameron's big job

Julian Hunte, the unseated president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has been unfortunately quiet since his defeated bid for another two-year term last week.

There was no immediate and public congratulation to his former deputy and successor, Dave Cameron. Decorum and the ideals of cricket demanded that he should have, whatever his disappointment. Not to do so just isn't cricket.

But if Dr Hunte is keen on the history of ancient Rome, he perhaps sees himself in the context of two of its famous figures. The first of these would be his namesake, Julian, the last of the non-Christian emperors, who died in battle against the Sassanid Empire in 363.

Julian Hunte, 73, is an old politician well tempered by St Lucian politics, who probably, like Emperor Julian, faced one battle too many.

Julian Hunte, though, is more likely to see himself in the vein of Julius Caesar and cast Cameron in the role of Brutus - eternally famous for his role in the assassination of his friend and mentor.

Mr Cameron, 43, disavows any such characterisation. Having served for six years as Mr Hunte's deputy, he says that he only went for the top job when Mr Hunte indicated that he would not seek another term. In that scenario, Dave Cameron would have been a shoo-in for the WICB presidency. Mr Hunte, however, changed his mind.

Many will see in the Hunte-Cameron development parallels of the relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for the British Labour Party, with the difference being that there was never a leadership vote between Blair and Brown.

In this case, Dave Cameron won by 7-5, a tight outcome in a contest in which, unprecedentedly, he had the publicly declared support of the Jamaican prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller. Further, Mr Hunte was abandoned by his own Windward Islands Cricket Board, whose president, Emmanuel Nanthan, was Dave Cameron's running mate.

Usually, the WICB selects its presidents not by contested vote but by consensus. This departure from the norm complicates Dave Cameron's job.

Soothe resentments

Before he does anything else, he has to soothe the resentments that may linger among the delegates and territorial boards. Mr Nanthan started by declaring Mr Hunte to be a friend who had done "a tremendous job ... over the last six years, working to rebuild West Indies cricket".

Although he campaigned as an outsider, with a shiny new vision for West Indies cricket, Dave Cameron is still to convince many people that over a decade of membership to the WICB and six years as its second in command, he remained immune to the warts that afflicted Dr Hunte - that it is all Julian Hunte's fault. Now, he has to take from talk to reality the concepts for bringing money into West Indies cricket and making it the game of choice for the region's people.

We hope that he succeeds.

He has a couple of advantages. There are signs of improvement in the West Indies team. A rare legal victory against the players' union suggests the game is not being run by a bunch of jokers, as some argue. Having new CEOs of both the WICB and the players' association has lessened a personality conflict, so that both sides can hear each other.

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