Kingston (Jamaica), Dec 16: Cricket legend Michael Holding has blasted the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as "dysfunctional" and "untrustworthy" and cautioned that the game is in danger of further deterioration if changes are not made.

Holding's public rebuke of the Dave Cameron-led WICB comes amid reports of defiance at the board's quarterly meeting in St Lucia on Saturday, reports CMC.

The WICB says it has retained the services of Dominican lawyer Anthony Astaphan to provide advice on the recommendations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) report calling for the dissolution of the board.

A WICB release quotes Astaphan as saying that the way forward is for the board and Caricom to work together to improve the game in the region.

"As for the state of West Indies cricket, that will only get worse as long as this current crop of board members remains there and the structure and culture remains the same," Holding said on Wednesday.

"You cannot have a healthy, productive, employee workforce while the employer is dysfunctional, untrustworthy and not liked by the employees."

West Indies cricket has been marred by a turbulent relationship between the board and the players and last year the team abandoned a tour of India leading to a $42 million-dollar lawsuit from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The latest humiliation for the former world beaters came on the weekend when they crashed to an embarrassing innings and 212-run loss to Australia inside three days in the opening Test.

IANS