Kishore Shallow has been elected as the new president of Cricket West Indies, replacing Ricky Skerritt, whose tenure had the double misfortune of encompassing the Covid-19 pandemic before the more recent embarrassment of failing to qualify for the latter stages of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

Shallow, the 39-year-old from the St Vincent & Grenadines, will serve a two-year term in partnership with Azim Bassarath, of Trinidad & Tobago, who ran unopposed as vice-president.

The change of leadership was confirmed at the 24th annual meeting of CWI, which was held on Saturday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

“On behalf of Cricket West Indies, I sincerely thank the outgoing president Ricky Skerritt for his latest contribution to our beloved cricket,” said Shallow, who saw off a challenge from Wilford “Billy” Heaven, of Jamaica. “He has served with distinction and pride in one of the most challenging periods in our lifetime — the Covid-19 pandemic. His tenure has certainly moved us in the right direction.”

Shallow, who was on the ticket with Skerritt and had served as his vice-president since 2019, added: “The resounding vote of confidence demonstrated by the shareholders is heartening. My profound gratitude to them and all the stakeholders for supporting me throughout the electoral process. As I embark on this new role with vice-president Bassarath, there is no delusion about the considerable workload. My philosophy remains one of unity and inclusivity. For it is only if we pool our resources and efforts together will West Indies cricket make any meaningful advancement as a cricket nation.”

Shallow, who is also president of the Windwards Islands Cricket Board, received his doctorate from Walden University, a master’s degree from the University of Wales, Institute of Cardiff, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sunderland.

Bassarath said: “It is indeed an honour to be elected to serve as the vice-president of Cricket West Indies and I look forward to working alongside Dr Shallow and the other members of the board of directors as we continue the good work done by Mr Skerritt for the benefit of everyone involved in West Indies cricket.”

The failure of the two-times world T20 champions to emerge from the first round in Australia in January — Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands and Sri Lanka advanced instead — led to the formation of a working group, which included batting legend Brian Lara, that was tasked with overhauling West Indies cricket from top to bottom.

The early results have been mixed, with a Test series win in Zimbabwe followed by a 2-0 series whitewash defeat in South Africa, a drawn one-day international series against the same opponents, and an ongoing T20 series that is producing record scores — the last, on Sunday, highlighting a stunning failure to defend 258.

Cricket West Indies, which is the Full Member nation that serves as an umbrella for Bermuda and the other Associate Members in the ICC Americas Zone, also elected ten directors on Saturday:

Jason King (Barbados Cricket Association); Conde Riley (Barbados Cricket Association); Bissoondyal Singh (Guyana Cricket Board); Deleep Singh (Guyana Cricket Board); Donovan Bennett, PhD (Jamaica Cricket Association); Wilford Heaven (Jamaica Cricket Association); Enoch Lewis (Leeward Islands Cricket Board); Leon Rodney (Leeward Islands Cricket Board); Kerwin John (Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board); Arjoon Ramlal (Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board); Dwain Gill (Windward Islands Cricket Board); Carol Henry (Windward Islands Cricket Board).