Lara appeals for investment by Caribbean fans

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, called for the Caribbean public to ensure the survival of West Indies cricket by involving themselves in a membership programme that would fund the regional game without the "stranglehold" of sponsors.

Lara, who called the current West Indies team "his family", made the rousing appeal as the feature speaker at the third annual West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Awards for 2005, which took place at the Chaguaramas Hall of the Chaguaramas Hotel and Convention Centre in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday night. The ceremony had as its theme "In pursuit of excellence".

Lara, who was named West Indies Cricketer of the Year, West Indies Test Player of the Year and given a special award for becoming the highest scorer in Tests last year, suggested the people of the region take matters into their own hands and emulate the efforts of the fans of two world-famous teams, namely the Green Bay Packers, who play in the National Football League (NFL) in the USA, and Spanish football club Barcelona, winners of this year's European Champions League.

"These two teams have a model I would love to see the West Indies adopt," Lara explained. "They pay an annual membership fee and with a membership of 90,000 fans for the Packers and 100,000 for Barcelona, that brings in a lot of revenue."

He continued: "We can do the same thing here in the Caribbean. We have six million passionate fans in the region and a further nine million in the diaspora. Why can't we have just one million of those people paying US$20 to ensure that West Indies cricket survives?"

Lara's suggestion was immediately taken up by entertainer Rikki Jai, who performed right after Lara's address and opened with a pledge to become the first member.

Lara reasoned that this venture would prevent any one private entity from dictating the pace for the regional game, like the sponsorship row between Digicel and Cable & Wireless that wreaked havoc last year.

"Why do we have to have that stranglehold of sponsorship round our necks? We are greater than that," he said to great applause from the gathering. Lara had set up his suggestion by pointing out that West Indies cricket was at a critical juncture which could mean the demise of the game in the region.

He stated that the expected windfall of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in West Indies would be US $50-60 million, a situation that would finally erase a US$15-20 million debt that has saddled the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to date.

"That would leave about US$30 million and I have talked to one person close to the WICB who told me that that money would last five to six years," Lara stated, after surmising that West Indies cricket was at the "threshold of complete oblivion in world cricket", due to its perilous financial state.

"After that, a period of uncertainty and the unknown would follow. What do we do to arrest that situation? What do we do to ensure that the money we make over the World Cup will help ensure the game prospers long after so we move forward and our cricket moves on to that next level?" he asked.

In his address, Dinanath Ramnarine, the WIPA chief executive officer and president, stressed the importance of the recently-signed collective agreement and paid homage to the region's fans, asking for their continued support.