We missed the boat!

Sun, Oct 1, '23

M relieved we didn't submit a last-minute bid for next year's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup. One needs to be a sports business-oriented nation that understands the value of hosting major sports events and can plan, execute, and account for the economic, sporting and political objectives set. We are not yet that nation.

Late deliberation

That serious deliberations took place only now, knowing we were hosting for the past five years, exposes our shortcomings. Planning should have started long ago, guided by government policy, with a team assembled to prepare the business case, develop measurable objectives, gather empirical data. We have Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange with the rare distinction of actual portfolio subject matter expertise.

Stephen Price, Flow's CEO, successfully executed the Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 record-setting commercial programme. Michael Hall delivered flawless cricket operations across the Caribbean. Robert Bryan headed the Jamaica Local Organising Committee and ran the 2010 T20 World Cup. Dave Cameron is a past Cricket West Indies (CWI) president and ICC board member. Don Wehby, CEO of Grace Kennedy, is a recent CWI director; he might have insight into how our private sector could exploit the 30 million cricket fans in the United States, putting aside the two billion viewers worldwide. Maybe this tiny US cricket niche, with US$1.6 trillion in spending power, has a place in our export future.