Revisit CPL, CWI agreement, urges JCA president

(CMC) – Jamaica Cricket Association president Billy Heaven believes the agreement between Cricket West Indies and the Caribbean Premier League needs to be revisited in order to ensure enhanced returns on investment for the region.

Heaven, also a CWI director, said the agreement struck 12 years ago ahead of the inaugural CPL season was “disadvantageous to Jamaica” and other regional countries as it did not provide significant enough value.

The administrator was speaking here recently amid public outcry over the pullout of the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise, which left the country without a CPL presence since the tournament was founded.

“It (the agreement) is disadvantageous to Jamaica. It is prejudicial to cricket in Jamaica, and that agreement, in the first instance, spans 30 years,” the Observer newspaper quoted Heaven as saying at an event here.

“It came into being in 2012, and when you look at the return from that, in the first year, the agreement brings US$1.375 million (JA$211.8 million), and at the end of 30 years, it is US$1.75 million.

“There’s no increase whatsoever, even to keep pace with the inflationary effect.

“So, we have to go back to look at that agreement to make it more workable for the region, including Jamaica.”

Even with the Tallawahs franchise present, Jamaica has endured a strained relationship with the tournament in recent years and has not hosted a single match since 2019.

And in re-selling the franchise to the league, owner Kris Persaud cited a lack of government support as one of the major factors behind the decision.