CWI CEO embraces inevitable individualism of regional cricket

Cricket West Indies’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Dehring expects regional cricket’s attempt to adapt to inevitable shifts in the sport’s ecosystem will lead to a decline in the frequency with which teams such as the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands compete as multinational outfits. Dehring highlighted that the introduction of cricket at the Pan American Games and its reintroduction to the Olympics, where only sovereign nations can compete, will see an increase in the number of games contested by individual territories.

“If you think about Pan American Games qualifications every two years and Olympic Games qualifications thrown into the mix, you can see a different cadence of cricket taking place in the Caribbean over the next five, 10, 15, or 20 years,” Dehring told the Mason and Guest panel. 

“And of course, individual countries are who play in those tournaments. So it won't necessarily be Leewards and Windwards. It will be St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago competing to qualify now for a bigger prize.” 

He, however, insists the changing events should not be feared but rather embraced. Dehring hopes the inherent nationalism attached to participating in these tournaments will push regional governments to pour more resources into the sport. 

“It's one of the challenges of West Indies cricket in that there's no such country called the West Indies. And so [with the] West Indies winning, we all feel good,” he said. “But individual nations and governments don't feel like they're getting, I guess, the political goodwill that follows.

“And therefore, it's more difficult for them to invest in national programs like the under-13s and under-15s, where national resources should be deployed in the development of those youngsters. Not West Indies cricket resources, but national resources.”

CWI has, throughout the year, freely admitted to experiencing financial difficulties. And Dehring has once again pointed to the disparity in the International Cricket Council’s revenue share.  “We can only look to [get] revenues from international tours and, of course, from the ICC,” he began. “And the world has said it—I don't need to repeat it—that it's just an unfair distribution given the contribution that West Indies has made to world cricket, given the special circumstances (multiple territories) that we have here.”

The West Indies receives 4.58% of revenue under the ICC's current distribution model. They are one of eight full member nations to receive less than 5%, with India keeping the lion’s share (38.50%), followed by England (6.89%) and Australia (6.25%).

With limited earning opportunities available to CWI, they seem to have settled on acceptance of a fruitful certainty.

“Franchise cricket is on the rise, which is decimating television rights for bilateral series,” Dehring said. “So there’s going to be a restructuring, a re-engineering of the world of cricket, and West Indies cricket is going to have to adapt. We're going to have to find our own way through the new world. We have to be as flexible as possible to take advantages where we can and survive where we have to.”