Jack Bannister

Jack Bannister today severed all connections with Warwickshire CCC. He has sent the following e-mail to the Bears and is happy for it to be put in its entirety in the public domain.

"Having been associated with Warwickshire for over 60 years as
1. Junior member in the 1940s
2. Player from 1950-69
3. Full member together with Ray Hitchcock from the middle 1950s
3. Served on the Supporters's committee for several years
4. Honorary life member and proud to be made one, and still maintained my paid membership,
I now have great regret - even sadness - in asking you to inform the full committee that I wish to sever all remaining connections with the club. i.e. my paid and honorary membership because I have become totally disappointed and disillusioned with the performance of the ECB chairman, vice-chairman and chief executive in the last two months - and it seems that the Warwickshire club supported those three men and the decisions made regarding the sacking of captain and coach, and their subsequent refusal to admit any misjudgement on the Stanford affair.

The Stanford involvement leaves me in despair about the lack of governance of a game that has been my life for so many years. In particular I have squirmed at the radio interview performances of the above named three senior officers when ducking, diving and generally evading any suggestion of personal responsibility at the hands of firm but completely fair interviewers Jonathan Agnew and Gary Richardson,.

BBC have just revealed that the ECB - and therefore the same three officers - were informed three weeks ago about the now widely reported alleged fraudulent Stanford details which have resulted in the freezing of assets, confiscation of passport and an order not to leave USA. But they did nothing until last week when the news finally broke and they had no alternative.

Yet not a hint of resignation from anyone at having led English cricket into dealings with a man they knew months ago had been turned down by Australia, South Africa, India and ICC. Such gross misjudgement has sheltered behind a defence of obfuscation falsely quoting "the benefit of hindsight".

The chief executive's quote that the Stanford episode is now "historical" is an affront to all cricket lovers - and that includes me. As early as last August, the man who knows more about West Indian cricket than anyone else - Michael Holding - resigned after a few weeks from the Stanford Board of celebrities including Richards, Sobers, Walsh and Ambrose at a personal cost of several thousand US dollars per month. Thank goodness for a man of such principle. The warning signs were obvious when the others were sacked before Xmas.

And so to the Twenty20 winner-take-all in which the England side were sold in such a grubby manner. That was another key moment in the three officers bringing the game into disrepute to me and many other people who care so much about the image of English cricket on which they trampled because of money. But still they ploughed on. Now, they are contemplating taking legal action against the PCA , with most of the centrally contracted players split again about who tells whom what to do and when.

I have always had many trusted sources in cricket and do not know one that disagrees with me. This email concerns mainly the three officers already identified, but the apparent support of the Warwickshire Club for them prompts this decision - made I repeat with great regret and sadness.

I would request that this be read to the full committee and also the WOCCA committee at the next available opportunity. So ends over 60 years of association with a club that that so often made me proud."