Cricket West Indies (CWI), grappling with tight finances and a crowded calendar, is reshaping its regional structure.
The board has already postponed the Breakout League for emerging players, and according to St. Lucia Times contributor Joseph “Reds” Perreira, it also looks set to condense the first-class tournament into a single territory after last season’s multi-nation play.
While CWI’s official release cited difficulty in finding an appropriate window for the league, Perreira says the board’s hand has been forced by finances as much as fixtures.
The league, a Caribbean Twenty20 competition created by CWI to identify, develop and showcase emerging talent, was originally slated for January but will now be held later in the year.
In confirming the postponement, CWI referred to the “increasingly congested international and domestic cricket calendar, coupled with preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup”.
However, Perreira said, “The delay is again due to finance, and finance does come in at various times. They hope that when the money is available, they’ll be able to play out the second Breakout League.
“It’s a tight financial situation, and the next big payout, as far as I know, will come from when the 2026 World Cup is completed. Then the ICC will pay their members, and the board will certainly receive a substantial amount of money. But that’s down the road.
“The board is trying to deal practically with the money they’ve got and what they can afford to execute. So the Breakout probably will come later on, and I hope that they will change the format slightly to cater for a younger under-23 age, which will probably unearth more talent.”
In another cost-saving measure, the regional four-day first-class season is likely to be hosted exclusively in Antigua & Barbuda during April, with the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the Antigua Recreation Ground and Coolidge Cricket Ground as designated venues.
Perreira notes that this decision is intended to reduce spending on air travel and hotel accommodation.
“This is a further effort in terms of Antigua to simply cut out flying to various venues and having a wide spread of the matches, but simply playing all in Antigua and hoping that that will kill two birds,” he said.
Perreira called the decision a good one. “From what I’ve heard, they may get the former Test ground, ARG. That is, in fact, very close to the city of St. John’s and the communities around it, and they will probably make more money there than at the Sir Vivian Richards.
“They have some time until April to get the square going and make sure that the outfield has recovered from the heavy football season they’ve had. That ground may attract some of the better matches simply because it will bring more revenue, and maybe some of the lesser matches being played out at the Sir Vivian Richards, which is, by Antigua standards, far out and wouldn’t have the same easy access as the ARG.”
