It is our hope a new boundary has opened up for West Indies cricket with duo Ricky Sketter and Kishore Shallow now at the wicket; we will have to wait and see how soon the dynamic of change is felt with both players taking over after a six-year reign by President of Cricket West Indies, Dave Cameron.
As indicated across the region, there is a renewed sense in the prognostications for the game, that with Cameron comprehensively beaten for the presidency, the future of West Indies cricket is now positioned for better sailing – what is being described as “a refreshing wind of change”.
However, such optimism for a resurgence remains to be seen; all the same, what is refreshing, after all, is the Sketter-Shallow dynamic is better positioned to introduce the change of pace our game sorely needs. To accomplish this change of pace, the new duo needs the support of the entire leadership team – the same players who remarkably supported Cameron.
It means a refreshing change in the upper ranks has been long overdue, and hopefully all of its leaders are now onboard. Cameron expressing surprise he was removed – through admission the defeat was startling – speaks to an internal mechanism that strategically challenged and defeated his intention for continued, political incumbency. This development is in itself good news, and bodes well as rejection of the debilitating Cameron status quo.
For it is beyond doubt our game suffered, as was consistently noted during Cameron’s stultifying tenure; and with leadership from the top being a contributory component to poor cricketing performance within, and beyond the boundary, the Caribbean region, and its diaspora, similarly suffered.
It is our hope, for the region, and the diaspora abroad, that with the change in leadership at the top, our cricket will now move forward in a positive direction.

In a 2016 study, ‘Childhood Obesity in the Caribbean: Weighty Challenges and Opportunity’, Fitzroy Henry notes an “obesity tsunami” impacting on Caribbean children, adding between 2001-2010 the affliction in pre-school children changed from six percent to a disturbing 14 percent.
Henry also noted the affliction to be a “weighty challenge”, with the region showing higher rates than the global average of five percent; he noted children in Jamaica showed a rate of 17 percent.
Henry indicated health risks most likely to afflict obese children were sleep apnea, with asthma sufferers tending to have worse symptoms than non-obese counterparts. Obese children were also likely to have high blood pressure, and suffer from high cholesterol, with further risks of heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and some cancers.
In the wake of Henry’s research, among others, news out of Trinidad is frightening that at least 50 percent of primary and secondary school children are overweight, and are at risk for diabetes. This was the revelation by a Joint Select Committee on Social Services and Public Administration examining current levels of childhood obesity, and what the government of Trinidad and Tobago is doing to promote a healthier lifestyle among children.
According to National Parents Teachers’ Association president Raffiena Ali-Boodoosingh, childhood obesity continues to grow exponentially, with school children showing diabetes and hypertension symptoms.
“The most recent statistics… [indicate] childhood obesity increased from 2.4 percent in 1999 to 13 percent in 2009, and in 2017 to 55 percent between… five to 18 years,” she said.
Health initiatives have been implemented by the Trinidad and Tobago government, such as the 2017 move to restrict sugary drinks sold in schools; also, 4-H Clubs were introduced to encourage physical activity.
However, even more has to be done – particularly following revelations by Diabetes Association head, Andrew Dhanoo. According to Dhanoo, some youths are developing diabetes and non-communicable diseases sooner than the parents – which could lead to the children dying before their elders.