West Indies cricket faces a potentially crippling financial crisis after India yesterday suspended future visits to the Caribbean following the abrupt abandonment of the Caribbean team’s tour to India last week.
The West Indies cut short their tour last Friday because of an internal pay dispute, even though the fifth one-day international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played.
India retaliated by cancelling a tour scheduled for February and March 2016 to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), one of the richest bodies in world cricket, also said it would “initiate legal proceedings” against the West Indies Cricket Board but gave no details.
The worst case scenario is, West Indies could also face suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, since this series was based on a bilateral agreement, the ICC can only take action if the BCCI lodges a complaint with it.
The BCCI, while not making any specific mention of lodging any claim for damages, may ask the WICB to pay them around $65 million as damages. The situation has also left other boards nervous of similar unreliability and discussing possible contingency plans. West Indies are due to tour South Africa in December and January and are scheduled to host England in April and May.
Veteran cricket journalist Tony Cozier, writing on the Cricinfo website, warned that it would be disastrous for West Indies if India cancelled future tours. India’s away tours usually generate huge sponsorship money for the host nation due to the country’s large cricket-viewing population.
“With its purchase of broadcast rights, ground perimeter advertising and sponsorship by its big corporations, India in the Caribbean brings more revenue to the WICB than any other tour,” Cozier wrote.
Popular TV commentator Harsha Bhogle echoed Cozier. “The WICB is caught between the devil and the deep sea,” Bhogle said. “If India don’t tour, they (WICB) won’t get the revenue needed to implement the agreement over which they had the dispute.”
Unfortunately, this brings an end to an otherwise entertaining series. The West Indies won the tour’s opening match by 124 runs in Kochi and then lost the second in Delhi despite suggestions they could pull out before the event.
The third ODI in Vizag was cancelled due to cyclone Hudhud. The teams journeyed straight to Dharamsala from Delhi before the eventual pullout.
