March 2015


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Regional first class cricket

The professionalisation of the game in the region has lagged dramatically behind the advances made in Australia, England and South Africa during the 1980s and ’90s. India’s professionalization of the game exploded in the 2000s with the advent of cash and expertise from the IPL.

The movement of players in a free market economy in these countries has allowed the most forward thinking and business-savvy first class and franchise set-ups to operate as fully fledged businesses, generating operating profits, winning trophies and producing international players for their national teams.

The territorial first class game in 2014 is comparative to English County cricket in the 1950s; it is barely professional in its administration, development and coaching, heavily reliant on the WICB for funding and administration, there are exceptions to this in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. The first class game has been reliant on the abundance of talent, the benevolence of the sugar industry and English first class cricket to polish its best players. The lag is dramatic and without immediate address will only widen the gap between the top four nations that currently exists.

Regional first class cricket in the form of four-day and one-day cricket doesn’t have enough fixtures, on good enough cricket wickets to produce the level of hard, tough cricket to turn out elite Test and ODI players. Domestic teams are playing 3‐5 four-day games a year in comparison to their competitors in Australia and South Africa who play strength versus strength cricket in the state and franchise competitions.

The four-day competitions in those countries play a full round of 10 games, where consistent volume of runs and wickets receives attention for national selection. The one-day competition in these countries is a double round of 10 games followed by semis and finals, with a minimum of 10 games per team. National selection is based on sustained, consistent performance.

Dilution of focus on WI Regional Cricket: In recent years in first class cricket in the region, overseas sides have been invited to participate along with the establishment of the CCC side whose goal is to enable students to play first class cricket. Rather than the focus being on producing cricket excellence amongst the top 66 cricketers in the region, with prioritised inclusion of all West Indian players playing in the domestic competitions unless on international duty, the move to seven teams with regional invitees has distracted and diluted the focus, finances and intensity needed to produce elite players. Aspiring cricketers who are students can be catered for with performance related cricket bursaries to universities and colleges, a simple exercise in an age of online learning.

The cricket systems that have produced cricket excellence from its players over the last 15 years are county, state and franchise. Those countries prioritise their own domestic competitions and don’t release players to play in other countries competitions whilst their own competitions are on.

The West Indies First Class Cricket system of six first class cricket teams, playing strength versus strength, produced the best players and the most dominating force in the history of cricket. Its simplicity was its strength, its guiding principle was West Indies first. No compromise.

This is an extract from the West Indies Cricket System Report presented by WICB cricket director, Richard Pybus, March 2014.