West Indies fail to secure domestic sponsors

The new season of West Indies' domestic one-day tournament kicks off next week, but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will have to foot the bill itself having failed to secure any sponsorship.

"We have held talks with some prospective sponsors and were not able to tie down one for this series. However, we will continue to have discussions with the sponsors and I am sure that we would have one for the tournament next year," Donald Peters, the WICB chief executive, said. "The WICB will carry the tournament alone and it will cost around US$400,000. Normally, when we had sponsors it used to cost the board around US$500,000 because we did not really receive much from them.

"What we have done to take the cost down is to keep the tournament at one site. This has cut the cost considerably for us."

It was hoped that the tournament, which was previously sponsored by KFC, would be played in Fort Lauderdale, United States, after a Florida-based sponsor had expressed interest. However, the WICB was forced to reschedule the tournament after negotiations broke down.

This year, the tournament will be boosted to nine teams with the inclusion of Canada and the United States. The winners will pocket US$28,000.