In a new twist of event in what now seems to be an unending saga, it appears as though certain members of the WICB's Management Committee are determined to see the back of CEO, Gregory Shillingford. The revelation was contained in a letter to board members seeking clarification on his further employment with the WICB.

Shillingford, who along with former president and vice president (Rousseau and Joseph) in May fired West Indies team manager, Ricky Skerritt by email, now seems headed out of office himself.

According to Shillingford, he was told by Marketing Manager Chris Dehring on Thursday that he (Dehring) had been asked to act as CEO by two board members since they were going to ask him (Shillingford) to leave office within 30 days. This of course, came as a surprise and was the reason for Shillingford's latest letter to board members.

In his letter dated 5th July, Shillingford wrote: "This afternoon Mr. Chris Dehring disclosed to me that Board members Messrs DeSouza (Richard) and Singh (Chetram) of the WICB management committee asked him to act as CEO because they were going to ask me to leave the WICB within thirty days."

"This information has been confirmed to me by other members of staff who relate that the same members of the management committee told them that 'come what may Shillingford will be out of here within 30 days.' "It is useful to note that all of this was happening while both the president and vice president designate of the WICB (Wes Hall and Val Banks), were visiting the board's headquarters and meeting the staff in Antigua.

The CEO's letter continues thus "This afternoon, prior to Chris Dehring and other staff disclosing the above to me, I had a meeting with Messrs DeSouza and Singh who spoke to me about plans for Andrew Sealy to hold on until December 2001, for Richard Jodhan to hold on for a month to six weeks following his letter of resignation dated July 3, 2001, and the hiring of staff to be deferred until the new president and vice-president were installed."

"At no time did they disclose to me their plans to terminate or sever my services at the WICB. No evaluation of my performance since taking up the post as CEO has been carried out by Messrs DeSouza and Singh, nor has there been an evaluation by the members of the current management committee."

"In the circumstances I find the behaviour of the two directors strange and certainly not in keeping with proper professional practice. I therefore require clarification by the Board of the above action and of my position as chief executive officer. Please treat this matter with the seriousness and urgency it deserves."

"I hate to forecast where we are going. The same fellows who accused Pat (Rousseau), Clarvis (Joseph) and myself of not going through the proper channels in dealing with Skerritt, are the same ones who are doing this. On top of that, they have not evaluated me, they have said nothing to me. My file is clean. The only thing in it is my letter of appointment."

However, the WICB in response to the above admitted that "the management committee was concerned about issues that emerged from that process (firing of Skerritt) in connection with Mr Shillingford." The release further confirmed that "while a meeting took place between Mr Shillingford and two members of the management committee on Thursday the issues pertinent to Mr Shillingford were not addressed at that meeting since the two members opted to defer the discussion until the full committee was available."

One thing that was confirmed though, was that "the management committee had however considered the option of discussing an amicable separation agreement, if this was felt to be necessary and appropriate following discussions with Mr Shillingford." The approval of the full board would be required to implement such action. Shillingford was appointed CEO in November to replace the retired Steve Comacho.

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