ROSEAU, Dominica, (WICB): The West Indies Cricket Board has approved the membership of the board of directors of the Cricket World Cup 2007, the organisation that will run the competition to be hosted in the Caribbean.
The Chairman of the Board is Rawle Brancker, a former Barbados and West Indies cricketer, and the Deputy Chairman is O.K. Melhado, a highly respected Jamaica businessman and sports enthusiast. The two were chosen at the WICB’s directors’ meeting on Saturday and Sunday here.
Brancker is chairman and president of the Brancker Corporation, a business that he started and has run successfully in Barbados since 1976.
He has also served on a number of prominent boards, including the Barbados Telephone Company and Digital Information Systems, subsidiaries of telecommunications giant and sponsor of international cricket in the West Indies, Cable & Wireless Company, as well LIAT, the Barbados Central Bank, and the Barbados Investment & Development Corporation on which he held the post of Chairman.
Brancker has also been the chairman of the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity, and the president of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association and the Canada/Barbados Business Association.
Melhado, a shareholder and vice-chairman of Red Stripe, has been instrumental in the company’s 15-year relationship with West Indies Cricket.
A former chairman and currently a director of the Jamaica Tourist Board, Melhado was responsible for the staging of the Johnny Walker World Golf Championship in Jamaica that attracted the largest global television audience of any Caribbean event.
A former chief executive officer of major corporations such as IBM Jamaica, Jamaica Commodity Trading Corporation, and the Social Development Corporation, Melhado was also involved in the development and launch of the highly successful Beaches hotel brand within the Sandals Group and remains a shareholder and chairman of Real Resorts Ltd.
A co-author and substantial contributor to Michael Manley’s epic A History of West Indies Cricket, Melhado is currently Chairman of The Michael Manley Cricket Trust that has assisted young cricketers, including current West Indies players Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, and Ricardo Powell.
The other members of the board were approved by the WICB and will be announced later in the week.