PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – A two-day regional conference on West Indies cricket started on Thursday in Trinidad with stakeholders, including government officials and administrators, seeking to develop strategies to reinvigorate the sport that once had the Caribbean at the pinnacle of the global stage.
Trinidad & Tobago prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley, the conference hostCaricom organized, emphasized the “cultural and emotional significance” of cricket in the Caribbean, linking national pride to the team’s performance over several decades.
“West Indies cricket creates a strange nation, but it’s an effective one because we have been world leaders in this game that we love so much,” Rowley said during the opening address, which was attended by icons of the sport such as Sir Clive Lloyd and Sir Vivian Richards.
“And you may ask, why is it important for us to want a reinvigoration of West Indies cricket? It is because our Caribbean nation is lifted when we win, when we play well, and when we are depressed and don’t do well in cricket.”
Rowley, the chairman of the Caricom prime ministerial subcommittee on cricket, said there were “challenges in cricket management” and noted “dissatisfaction with the current management of West Indies cricket” while highlighting issues both on and off the field.
“We are not the first nation to have had issues with our game, but what drove this conference to its reality today is an impatience and an understanding that, unlike other nations that have had downs in their cricket history, we in the Caribbean seem to be taking a very long time to come out of our downturn in cricket,” he said.
“Many West Indians don’t realize that. We are, in fact, the smallest population of people playing this game, wanting to compete at the highest level and having set records of all kinds. But there’s something about us in the Caribbean that might be special in this game because we could play this game.”
Rowley also mentioned “the need to understand and manage cricket not only as a sport but also as a business” and called for the professional management of resources.
He suggested that the conference conduct a SWOT analysis to understand better the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing West Indies cricket.
In his address, Rowley said there was a need to revisit the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) contract to ensure it is “fair and beneficial” for West Indies cricket.
“One opportunity lost is to be in a position to ensure that in the billion-dollar industry, in the money-making part of the business that we are there to own,” he said.
“I want to say today that in the interest of West Indies cricket and managing resources that are available to us or should be available to us, it is essential for Cricket West Indies to reopen the CPL contract and to look at the resources available to West Indies cricket. That lopsided contract must not stand.”
Rowley also warned the region that it could lose its cricket culture if facilities such as cricket fields and nets are not maintained in schools and communities.
He said despite the myriad management issues that have faced the sport in the Caribbean, players often unite effectively as a team, suggesting that the problems rest with administration rather than with team spirit.
He also called for a commitment to strategic planning to ensure West Indies cricket’s future success and sustainability.
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