Brathwaite: Money is the key

Forget Vision 2020. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are going for 2007.

Roger Brathwaite, WICB chief executive officer, outlined the plans to take regional cricket back to the top rung of international competition during his address at the WICB's Strategic Planning Workshop held at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

He named several key objectives for the West Indies over the next few years. According to Brathwaite, top on the list of priorities for the WICB is improvement in their Test and one-day performances, getting back into the top three in the international rankings in both forms of the game, and of course, winning the 2007 World Cup at home.

This, Brathwaite explained, would be virtually impossible unless the West Indies have at least four players in the top ten batting and bowling rankings, as well as eight players in the top 30. To achieve this, he suggested that consistent match-winning performances at the regional level was a must. He also expressed concern about a lack of top-level coaches to contribute to further regional development.

Brathwaite advised, though, that the biggest stumbling block is the difficult financial situation the WICB now face. "If it weren't for the grace of our creditors," Brathwaite pronounced, "if they were to call in the debts today, we (the WICB) would have to close our doors."

He expressed optimism, though, that new initiatives that are being put in place to attract non-traditional revenue-- including the upcoming lottery, as well as the WI credit card system soon to be introduced, and a proposed North American Series featuring Pakistan and India-- along with the financial windfall expected from the impending World Cup next year would all contribute to erasing the deficit.

Brathwaite attributed their mountainous debt, in part, to a lack of incoming revenue and sponsorship, along with television and other costs, as well as the fact that teams no longer profit directly from away tours, expressing concern about the revenue that would be lost if the free-to-air mandate by the government of India is allowed to stand, when they tour the West Indies this year.

Accompanying Brathwaite on his trip to Trinidad for the last of this series of workshops with the regional territorial boards, facilitated by Jeff Sealy of Business Solutions Network, was West Indies manager Tony Howard, along with coach Bennett King. Also attending the session was Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president Deryck Murray, first vice president Dudnath Ramkeesoon, general secretary Forbes Persaud and treasurer Richard De Souza, as well as various zonal representatives.

Howard, in his address, analysed the decades of West Indies Test cricket from the 1940s to present in terms of wins and losses, the worst so far being this current decade. He said that only a viable long-term plan would be able to take the region's cricket, from "Fish and Chips" cricket back to the successes of the 1970s and 80s.

Giving a progress report on the improvements of the West Indies team since he joined them in November, 2004, Bennett King,the coach, said he has seen great progress on the recent tour to Australia, despite a 3-0 whitewash.

He listed the improvements: fitness, mental toughness and tactical awareness. Giving an example, he said star batsman Brian Lara was the fittest runner on the team at the end of 2004, but that most of the team have now caught up.

And although accepting that "we (WICB) will never have the kind of cash Australia and England and South Africa have," Brathwaite expressed the belief that if they could tap into the resources that are available to them, the regional team can be a much more competitive unit in the near future.