The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

CWI CEO Dehring responds to ‘massive threat’ from T20 leagues

sgtdjones 2/22/25, 3:52:32 PM
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debut: 2/16/17
38,886 runs

CWI CEO Dehring responds to ‘massive threat’ from T20 leagues

New Cricket West Indies chief executive Chris Dehring admits franchise leagues are a “massive threat” to the game in the Caribbean but he says CWI must also seize the opportunity that these leagues provide.In recent years, West Indies Test and One-Day International teams have seen several players making themselves unavailable in order to pursue contracts in various T20 leagues around the world.And speaking on the Mason and Guest cricket radio show on the Voice of Barbados Tuesday, Dehring acknowledged that a scenario in which players no longer needed Cricket West Indies to earn a living was serious but he said WI cricket could learn from the international club football model, “where you have private investment coming into the sport, doing all that development work and basically, the English FA basically has to pick the players off at the end.”

Expanding further, Dehring said: “I don’t condemn all this private investment and all these leagues popping up around the world, because it kind of solves one of the challenges.” He added though that, “it creates other challenges...for the West Indies team and future West Indies teams, but it’s not something that I look down on or am afraid...“We just have to find the right way to ride those waves; to get more infrastructure, to get more national resources going into the sport at the territorial board level; get more and more exposed people working in cricket at the different levels. You have to create a pipeline.”
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Fantom 2/22/25, 4:34:17 PM
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debut: 11/18/07
2,452 runs

Women's cricket, Mr CEO. Women's cricket!

What we lack in infrastructure now, we more than make up for with our natural gifts. We can use women's cricket to boost development in other areas.
imusic 2/22/25, 4:54:03 PM
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debut: 11/13/02
79,820 runs

WICBC/WICB enjoyed a monopoly for decades.

Players were at their whim and fancy. The only other options players had back in the day were English County cricket (which no longer became an option after consecutive blackwashes in England), Kerry Packer, and South African Rebel tours.

Now players have options. The board kept their normal way of doing business and now they reaping the whirlwind.

But somehow, it’s the players fault.
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Fantom 2/22/25, 5:44:37 PM
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debut: 11/18/07
2,452 runs

In reply to imusic

“We’re not asking for corporate support; we have to put together the kind of sponsorship packages...that will allow companies or encourage companies across the Caribbean and internationally to use West Indies cricket as a platform.”

I like this comment from the CEO. Finally, it appears that somebody in CWI understands that sponsorship is not begging but partnership.
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Edrich 2/23/25, 4:49:33 AM
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debut: 11/11/24
86 runs

In reply to sgtdjones

A pipe dream of a

Chef eediot ordinaries.