WICB Shortens One-Day Tournament

The West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) inability to secure a sponsor for this year's regional one-day tournament has forced the board to scrap the original plan for 30 preliminary matches in two separate venues.

Instead, CaribbeanCricket.com has learnt that the second leg, which was scheduled for Grenada before the island was hit by Hurricane Ivan, has been scrapped altogether.

The shortage of sponsorship funding and problems with finding a back-up venue to replace Grenada, were the reasons for the cancellation of the second leg.

Instead, the WICB plans to announce that only 15 preliminary games (each team playing each other once) will be played in Guyana.

After the Guyana leg, the tournament will shift to Barbados for three Final Four matches (two semis and the final).

The tournament will now start on October 16 instead of October 8.

It is not yet clear if the original Guyana leg of the itinerary will be revised.

The original itinerary had identified six venues in Guyana, including the GCC Ground (Bourda), Enmore, Uitvlugt, Hampton Court, Albion and Blairmont.

The WICB first announced a makeover of the former Red Stripe Bowl as part of a specific plan to increase the number of matches played annually.

The revamped format reduced the tournament to six teams from the traditional territories and made no room for a standalone Antigua side; a team from the University of the West Indies (UWI); a foreign team or a Windies 'B' team.

The removal of the UWI and Windies 'B' team was harshly criticised by former West Indies wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon, who now works as a coach attached to UWI.