Cash-strapped CWI forced to restructure

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS have forced Cricket West Indies (CWI) to significantly alter and, in some instances, cut some of their regional competitions next year.

This was revealed on Wednesday by CWI’s chief executive officer, Chris Dehring and Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, who both admitted that 2026 would be a challenging year for the region’s governing cricket body, with its revenue expected to drop significantly.

Among some of the casualties are CWI’s under-17 tournament, which has been scrapped, the women’s tournaments, which will be merged, while the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) and the West Indies Academy have been axed from the men’s tournaments.

Speaking during CWI’s quarterly press conference, Dehring said CWI was scheduled to host more than 33 events next year, including tours of Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

He explained that, based on the financial model of the ICC, the West Indies was not set to benefit from hosting either of the three tours.

Dehring said, with the profits from co-hosting the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup already gone, tough decisions had to be made in CWI’s best interest.

“We have to take an honest look at ourselves and understand that we’re not going to get out of where we are without a long-term vision, a long-term plan, and an execution of those plans based on the resources that we have.

“… The year 2025-2026 is going to be a very challenging financial year for us,” Dehring said.