Two Caribbean Prime Ministers previously critical of Dave Cameron’s leadership of Cricket West Indies have welcomed the election of Ricky Skerritt as the new president of the regional governing body .

Grenada’s Dr Keith Mitchell said Skerritt, and new Vice-President Dr Kishore Shallow, would “lift the spirits of Caribbean people,” while Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Keith Rowley said he now hoped that “a door to far-reaching progressive change is now open.”

Skerritt, a former St Kitts and Nevis government minister, and shallow, an it consultant and president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines cricket association, toppled three-term incumbents Cameron and Vice-President Emmanuel Nathan by 8-4 margins at elections during Sunday’s annual general meeting in Jamaica.

Under Cameron, CWI maintained an acrimonious relationship with CARICOM governments, especially after rejecting their attempted intervention to initiate governance reforms through the Patterson and Barriteau reports.

Mitchell, a former chairman of CARICOM’s sub-committee, remained a strident critic of Cameron and as recently as January said that as “far as Cameron’s management style of West Indies Cricket [is concerned], I don’t have a lot of respect for it”.

The veteran leader said he was especially pleased with Skerritt’s recognition of the need for partnership with the stakeholder community in pursuit of cricket development.