.
Dave Cameron dcameron@windiescricket.com
to: <socafighter@gmail.com>
date: Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Sandra,
See attached
Whycliffe 'Dave' Cameron
President
West Indies Cricket Board Inc.
T. 876.383.3283 |876.797.7023 | F. 268.481.2498
Windiescricket.com
7 Ivy Green Crescent,
Kingston 5 Jamaica
WICB Secretariat
P.O. Box 616W
Factory Road, St John’s, Antigua W.I. .
STATEMENT BY
PRESIDENT OF THE WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD WHYCLIFFE “DAVE” CAMERONAT A MEDIA CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2014
AT THE HYATT REGENCY IN PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD
ALL PROTOCOL HAVING BEEN PROPERLY OBSERVED – DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. . .
ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH, THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL APPROVED CHANGES RELATED TO THE GOVERNANCE, FINANCING AND STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL CRICKET.
THE W-I-C-B WAS ONE OF EIGHT FULL MEMBERS OF THE SPORT’S WORLD GOVERNING BODY THAT SUPPORTED THE KEY PRINCIPLES AT THE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING IN SINGAPORE.
WE BELIEVE THAT THE AMENDED KEY PRINCIPLES COVERING GOVERNANCE, FINANCING AND STRUCTURE WILL ALLOW THE W-I-C-B TO GROW AND DEVELOP THE GAME IN THE CARIBBEAN AND IN THE AMERICAS FAR MORE ROBUSTLY AND VIGOROUSLY.
AMONG OTHER THINGS, THIS MEANT THAT THERE WILL BE MORE REVENUE FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE ICC INCLUDING THE WICB, A TEST MATCH FUND TO SUSTAIN THE LONGEST VERSION OF THE GAME OVER THE NEXT DECADE, AND A CLEAR PATHWAY FOR ASSOCIATE MEMBERS NATIONS TO ACHIEVE TEST STATUS.THE NEW FINANCING PROPOSALS WILL ALLOW THE W-I-C-B TO NEGOTIATE – ON A BILATERAL BASIS – TOURS TO OTHER COUNTRIES FOR WHICH IT WILL EARN DIRECT REVENUE.
INCREASED REVENUE IN THESE AREAS WILL REDOUND TO THE BENEFIT OF WEST INDIES CRICKET THROUGH MORE FUNDS INVESTED INTO DEVELOPMENT, LONGER FIRST-CLASS SEASONS AND OTHER AREAS.WE PROJECT AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 100 PER CENT IN I-C-C REVENUE FOR THE UPCOMING EIGHT-YEAR CYCLE OF INTERNATIONAL MATCHES BASED ON THE PROPOSALS WHEN COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS EIGHT-YEAR CYCLE.
THE W-I-C-B AND ALL OTHER FULL MEMBERS NOW PLAY INTERNATIONAL CRICKET BASED ON THE FUTURE TOURS PROGRAMME WHICH IS SPREAD OVER A PERIOD OF EIGHT YEARS. IT IS NEGOTIATED BETWEEN MEMBERS AND COMPILED BY THE I-C-C, AND IS BASED ON TWO CYCLES OF FOUR YEARS AND IT OBLIGES US TO PLAY EVERY FULL MEMBER TWICE – ONCE HOME AND ONCE AWAY – IN EVERY FOUR-YEAR CYCLE.
CURRENTLY, WEST INDIES HAVE THE MOST UNFAVOURABLE ALLOCATION OF MATCHES BASED ON THE CURRENT F-T-P SCHEDULE OF ALL FULL MEMBERS AND THIS IS LARGELY THE REASON THE W-I-C-B IS NOW SET TO HAVE A MAJOR DEFICIT AT THE END OF THE SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2014, FINANCIAL YEAR.
THE NEWLY-APPROVED PROPOSALS WILL HOWEVER, ALLOW THE W-I-C-B TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PROFITABLE TOURS IT HOSTS, WHILE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF UNPROFITABLE TOURS IT IS OBLIGED TO HOST UNDER THE CURRENT F-T-P.
BASED ON THE PROPOSED BILATERAL STRUCTURE, THE W-I-C-B WILL BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE FEES WHEN THE WEST INDIES TEAM PLAYS IN AWAY SERIES, AS WAS THE CASE PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE F-T-P.
AS THE WEST INDIES TEAM CONTINUES TO REGAIN STRENGTH, THE W-I-C-B WILL BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE MORE FOR OUR BRAND, WHICH IS A MOST SIGNIFICANT CONSIDERATION.ALSO, WHERE THE W-I-C-B HOSTS UNPROFITABLE TOURS, WE WILL NOW BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE NEWLY PROPOSED TEST MATCH FUND TO HELP OFFSET COSTS.
WE CAN INFORM YOU NOW THAT THE W-I-C-B HAS ALREADY SECURED COMMITMENTS FROM THE MAJOR COUNTRIES TO PLAY AN INCREASED NUMBER OF MATCHES AND SERIES DURING THE NEXT EIGHT-YEAR CYCLE.
THIS WILL ALLOW THE W-I-C-B TO GROW REVENUE SIGNIFICANTLY THROUGH TELEVISION AND SPONSORSHIP WITH INCREASED OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY AGAINST THE MORE ATTRACTIVE TEAMS IN THE GAME.
ANOTHER TOPIC THAT HAS GENERATED MUCH DISCUSSION HAS BEEN THE POSSIBLE INTRODUCTION OF A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM FOR TESTS THAT COULD LEAD TO TEAMS BEING RELEGATED TO A SECOND DIVISION OF TEST MATCHES.
AS IT STANDS, THE TOP NINE TEAMS – INCLUDING THE WEST INDIES – WILL CONTINUE TOPLAY TEST MATCHES. THE RISK OF RELEGATION IS ONLY REALISTIC FOR THE 10TH-RANKED TEAM.
WEST INDIES ARE CURRENTLY RANKED SEVENTH AND ARE IN NO REALISTIC POSITION TO BE RANKED 10TH IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
WITH THE INCREASED REVENUE AND A FORTIFIED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, THE W-I-C-B IS DETERMINED TO ENSURE THAT THE WEST INDIES TEAM IS NOWHERE NEAR BEING RANKED 10TH IN THE WORLD, ALLOWING US TO CONTINUE TO PLAY ALL FORMATS OF THE GAME IN
FULL – AND PUT US IN A POSITION TO NEGOTIATE WITH EVERY OTHER FULL MEMBER FOR PARTICIPATION IN HOME AND AWAY TOURS.
FINALLY, MUCH HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT INDIA, ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA PLAYING A GREATER ROLE IN THE LEADERSHIP OF THE I-C-C AND WHAT IMPACT THIS NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE WILL HAVE ON THE WICB.
WE WANT TO MAKE IT EXTREMELY AND ABUNDANTLY CLEAR: THE W-I-C-B HAS NOT RELINQUISHED ANY POWERS AS A FULL MEMBER OF THE I-C-C. WE REMAIN A FULL MEMBER OF THE I-C-C WITH FULL VOTING RIGHTS ON ALL MATTERS.
THE W-I-C-B REMAINS ELIGIBLE FOR MEMBERSHIP TO ALL COMMITTEES, CHAIRMANSHIP OF ALL COMMITTEES, AND THE PRESIDENCY AND CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE I-C-C. AS SUCH, I AM CURRENTLY A MEMBER OF THE FINANCIAL & COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE I-C-C AND THAT SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE IN THE CASE.
THE W-I-C-B IS CONFIDENT IT WILL NOT BE HURT BY THE ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITION AND THAT THE I-C-C HAS UNDERGONE AND BELIEVE THE WORLD GOVERNING BODY WILL BE A STRONGER ORGANIZATION AS A RESULT.
Tape coverage of Press conference here ....
https://soundcloud.com/stream