The details of next year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies were announced on Saturday evening at a lively function at Beausejour Stadium Saint Lucia. The function was well attended by senior members of the West Indies Cricket Board, the ICC organisers, the full Indian squad including their management team, leading politicians from the region, leading local dignitaries, international, regional and local cricket media. It was a splendid presentation of cricket and culture, but sadly the most obvious invitees were absent, namely the West Indian players!
What an embarrassment to their board, the ICC organizers, everyone present and especially their supporters, who continue to be baffled by the internal confusion that is destroying West Indian cricket.
At first glance it might seem incongruous that the players should be so disrespectful to a tournament that promises to bring millions of dollars in tourism revenue to the region, and which will go a long way to rebuild faith that was destroyed when the region lost millions of dollars in potential revenue from Cricket World Cup 2007. The ICC and the top test nations may have reaped a fortune in television and sponsorship deals on that occasion, but the governments and local tax payers who funded the huge expenditure on infrastructure and stadia were poorly remunerated, and the local cricket public that had been eagerly awaited the event, was grossly short-changed by high ticket prices and restrictive rules barring musical instruments and fun in the stadiums. Little wonder the passionate West Indian cricket community felt it was a huge commercial and sporting anti-climax, a feeling exacerbated by yet another poor West Indian display on the field.
The problems within West Indies cricket have continued despite the board being able to turn a huge financial deficit into a positive position by the end of 2007, and sadly the players continue to feel badly treated, hence their boycott of Saturday evening’s function. As always there are two sides to every story and the players claim they have not been paid bonuses going back over a year nor fees for the England tour concluded over a month ago. Other payments are in dispute, so who works for nothing these days, and in a sport where millions of dollars in revenue are generated and paid into the coffers of the test nations, why should the West Indies players remain unpaid? And why is the West Indies the only major country that has these issues?
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The incident took some of the sparkle from the opening announcement but thankfully Indian captain Mahendra Dhoni carried off the official opening with great panache and a sense of occasion. After all, India won the inaugural event in South Africa in 2007 and his country has taken to Twenty20 cricket like the proverbial duck to water.
And what a pleasure for the only Irishman in the audience to watch the highlights of previous Twenty20 action and see large Kyle McCallan and Niall O’Brien images blazing loudly on the big screen. It says much for Irish cricket that we are on the big stage, albeit in the limited overs format. But the most important thing is that we have reached a platform in cricket where we have respect for what we have achieved, so let’s take one step at a time.
The organizers have gone to great lengths to try and win back the carnival atmosphere of Caribbean cricket making it as easy as possible for everyone to attend. There will be a ladies tournament running in tandem with the major men’s tournament like we had in England, and many of the matches have free entry. Indeed overall, the cost of tickets is modest, and a seat in the stands for the final at the Kensington Oval will be only US$40, in stark contrast to Lord’s where a similar ticket was in the region of US$200.
Cricket Ireland will have to qualify to reach the Caribbean and with Zimbabwe back into the fold, there will only be two places available for the associate countries. The qualifying tournament will take place in October, and it will be a tall order given that anything can happen in twenty overs-a-side competition, and the difference between winning and losing can be marginal. It would certainly be a great fillip for Irish cricket to return to the Caribbean and rekindle some of the 2007 fairytale, and what a great opportunity for local fans to join the party.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
