As the second edition of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket League (PCL) nears, the franchises are another year closer to their deadline of having to become sustainable or face collapse.
The WICB opted to financially prop up the PCL for the first four years, with the hope that the franchises work on sponsorship, so that they can stand on their own. Currently the WICB allocates a total of US$45,000 per month for each of the six franchises to run their business in terms of paying players’ salaries and preparing their teams.
If the franchises can’t find sponsors, then the WICB will have to continue their search for an overall sponsor to take care of the bill. Chairman of the Barbados Pride franchise Conde Riley says that the WICB would have to be more innovative and find ways to get sponsors on board. “The world economy is in recession and this of course has affected all the Caribbean governments which we can go to for assistance.
Fast bowler, Anderson Phillip has become the first player from the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 team to be called up to the Red Force training squad.
Phillip was Trinidad and Tobago’s leading bowler at the West Indies Under-19 tournament in Jamaica and was unlucky not to be selected for the Young West Indies training squad to prepare for the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh next year.
“I was really happy when I got the call from coach Kelvin Williams that I was invited to train with the Red Force team. Since I returned from the Under-19 tournament in Jamaica I have been preparing in anticipation that I would get the call up and I am ready physically and mentally for this opportunity,” said Phillip after training.
He joins fast bowler Anderson Phillip in the training squad and will go straight into action this weekend in the first practice game at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva.
The Fatima College student revealed that he was elated about his inclusion into the Red Force setup after recently competing at the West Indies Under-19 Championships in Jamaica.
We should remember that Darren Sammy was also excluded initially but reclaimed a spot after someone got injured on the tour to South Africa.
How obvious was it to interpret that the selectors appeared to be taking action, bypassing two of the more experienced players for the sport’s greatest showpiece?
This after the West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC) president Dave Cameron told Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves and Keith Mitchell along with the players’ legal representative Ralph Thorne at a meeting in Trinidad that there would be no recriminations from the India debacle.
The selectors, of course, wouldn’t admit to going for anyone’s jugular simply because they can choose who they like and don’t necessarily have to give any explanation.
The West Indies Players Association and the University of the West Indies Open Campus (UWIOC) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
This MOU is reflective of both parties' commitment to the development of WIPA, its members and Caribbean civilisation on a whole.
Members of the WIPA will now have at their fingertips the tools to further their training and development with the assistance of the UWIOC. This training and development will come at a discounted cost to WIPA members once they fulfill UWIOC's entry requirements.
WIPA's President and CEO Wavell Hinds said the move is "a step in the right direction for the development of our players".
The fact that wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin resigned from the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) may have cost him his job as captain of the West Indies Test team.
This according to former West Indies manager Omar Khan who says that he understands that many of the senior players have resigned from the players body after they again negotiated a poor contract for them
Khan said: “It is alleged that a number of senior West Indies players have resigned from the Players Association (WIPA) with Ramdin being one of them, and it seems as if this has cost him the captaincy.”
