BRIDGETOWN, April 1: West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Roger Brathwaite resigned after the organisation racked up debt of US$25 million (euro20.6 million).

Brathwaite said late on Friday he will step down on April 28 after three years in charge. The board had intended to discuss his future the same day.

“The past four years have been quite challenging, and now I leave having done the best I could within the organization’s framework,” he said in a statement from his Antigua office.

Brathwaite joined the board in May 2002 as chief marketing executive and then served as acting chief executive for six months before taking the job permanently.

The board is in debt because of problems attracting sponsors and a match schedule that hampers earnings. However, Brathwaite said the board had temmed losses during his tenure and generated a US$1.3 million (euro1.1 million) profit in 2003, and US$3.6 million (euro3 million) in 2004.

“The recent securing of a multimillion dollar loan facility for the board to assist with its cash-flow crisis will allow it to operate the day-to-day business of the board through until March 2007,” he said.

WICB president Ken Gordon thanked Brathwaite for his contribution.

“I have relied on his sound knowledge of the business of cricket, his absolute integrity and his tireless commitment to West Indies cricket,” Gordon said in the statement.

He added that the pair could still work together on the “resurgence of West Indies cricket.”

—AP