Plans afoot for Caribbean Premier League

Michael Muirhead, the CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has said that negotiations are on track for staging the inaugural Caribbean Premier League, a tournament which could replace the regional T20 competition in January next year.

"The negotiations are going on to bring on stream the Caribbean Premier League, and this would be a franchise tournament," Muirhead said. "The West Indies Cricket Board is negotiating the rights, and after this it will be handed to a private promoter who has shown interest in staging the league."

As it stands now, seven Caribbean teams will play a regional T20 which begins on January 6 in Trinidad and Tobago. Muirhead maintained that the commercial league may replace the regional tournament.

"It might mean that the regional T20 cricket tournament that is now being played might have to be done away with. This would mean that the franchise team would now go on to represent the region at the Champions League tournament on an annual basis," he said.

Muirhead also said that during his tenure, he hoped to resolve differences between the WICB and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA).

"I think with the temperament that I possess, I will be able to bring the parties closer together. Issues with WIPA don't have to be contentious, and at the end of my tenure I think WIPA would become a less contentious issue," he said.

"Both bodies have to work together to get things right, and it will take compromise from both ends. We will sit and negotiate fairly while achieving our own individual ideals, and I am confident things would work out."