Carib Brewery explain decision to end WICB association

Carib Brewery, who opted not to sponsor this year's first-class four-day competition in the West Indies, has said the "opportunities provided by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) did not fit" with their priorities at the moment in a release explaining their decision.

The Trinidad and Tobago beer company also confirmed they had ""relinquished our position as the official beer of West Indies cricket", the Trinidad and Tobago Express reported. The company said the decision was taken not to enter into a new agreement with the WICB following a strategic review of all sponsorships.

"The conclusion was that the opportunities offered by the WICB did not fit with our priorities at this time. Also we are unable to capitalize on the regional nature of the series to the extent necessary to justify the contractual obligations."

Carib's sponsorship of the competition for six years was in excess of US$4 million. The release said, "while we know that West Indies cricket is still on a journey to regain its past position on the world stage, we believe it is on the right track.

"We are proud to know that some of the best cricketers the region has produced in the last 15 years have been part of the Carib Beer Regional Series ... Some of these young cricketers like Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards and Denesh Ramdin, to name a few, have come through the ranks of the Carib Beer Series.

"Carib Brewery continues to support West Indies cricket throughout the region via significant sponsorship of local club cricket in territories such as Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago and St Kitts, and we will continue to assess the level of our involvement regularly."