Holder opens up about CWI financial difficulties
—wants England to reciprocate by touring the West Indies before the end of the year
West Indies captain, Jason Holder is the latest to speak out on the financial issues affecting Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Holder spoke on the subject following the conclusion of their three-Test series against England which they lost 1-2.
The tour was important as it ushered in the return of international cricket amidst the deadly Novel Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic.
“In these trying times basically only England, India and Australia could probably host cricket so you’ve got the smaller territories struggling financially to get the cricket on,” said the West Indies test captain.
He also referenced the necessary arrangements made by the England Cricket Board (ECB) to facilitate the tour.
“If you look at the financial strain it has put the ECB under to host this tour, having to help cost bringing us over here with chartered flights, hotel accommodation, it’s probably a hefty bill.”
He added, “I don’t think many countries around the world could do that particularly us in the Caribbean. We would probably struggle to put that on and that is another challenge we are faced with.”
The number two ranked all-rounder in the world revealed that he was recently in a conversation with CWI’s Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Grave where he disclosed that the Caribbean board only profits from when England and India tour the region.
“Funny enough I was speaking to our CEO Johnny Grave, he probably highlighted we only make money from playing England and I think India and probably break even with Australia, Pakistan and all the other series we play is a major loss to the organization,” Holder recalled.
“I think now more than ever it would definitely highlight the difference in the revenue scale, you know England Cricket get a huge chunk of money, Australia can stand on their own and India is a powerhouse. Outside of those top three nations, the other set of nations would struggle. We particularly have a massive difficulty trying to fund our cricket and not only our international cricket but every single age group level cricket, A-team programmes, our developmental programmes and it has been a difficult situation,” he said.
Based on the structure where host countries retain the profits from a tour, Holder noted that it would be a big boost if England could tour the Caribbean before the end of 2020.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen after this series in terms of the international calendar but more or less I mean if there is an opportunity for England to come over to the Caribbean it would help significantly towards the West Indies financial records.
It’s been a tough last couple years financially and we have had to take a pay cut as well due to the difficult circumstances we have been facing financially so yes a tour hopefully before the end of 2020 would put us in a good stead probably or keep us afloat as an organization,” Holder suggested.