A Question for West Indians

[Goughy]

With the recent and almost constant fighting within the West Indies over cash and contracts and the horrible state of WI cricket finances (recently illustrated here http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/254569.html) I have a question.

This question is a thought exercise that I would like analysed on a purely financial basis and not on any other criteria especially not emotional or historical. I am not advocating the idea just whether theoretically there could be benefits.

Question- Would West Indies cricket benefit financially if there were 2 Test and ODI teams within the region. Lets say for example Jamaica becomes a seperate cricketing entity and the rest of the West Indies carries on under the West Indian banner?

There would be 2 TV contracts
More teams touring the region
Fierce local rivalries played out at the highest international level
More diverse sponsorship opportunities

etc. Would there be more money?

On a playing level it would make a difference but Jamaica is not much smaller than New Zealand (just under 3 mil compared to just over 4 mil) and Zimbabwe formed a half decent Test team from a tiny white population

Extract from Wiki about Zimbabwe-

"The white population dropped from a peak of 275,000 in 1970 to possibly 120,000 in 1999, and was estimated at little more than 85,000 in 2006"

So both teams from the region should be able to produce teams worth the crowd and TV paying to watch

Again, Im not advocating the idea, just wondering if people thought from a purely financial viewpoint whether it would have benefits.

 

[roseboy64]

That's been bandied about for a whle.

 

[Goughy]

That's been bandied about for a whle.

and the financial pros and cons from your point of view would be...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The problem here being that no island in the Caribbean is good enough to play Test/ODI cricket on its own. Perhaps Barbados of yesteryear would have been a match (Marshall and his cohorts about), but present day teams (especially Jamaica) are hardly Test class.

In short, it may be beneficial financially, but it's a major con for the game in general, as it just adds another team to the ring that's even less competitive than the West Indies. It'll result in poor cricket and undeserved world records.

I think this is one area that must be overlooked for the greater good of the game, regardless of the financial benefits. The best thing that can be done for WI cricket in terms of bringing money into it right now (aside from actually winning) is Stanford 20/20 cricket. I'm not a fan of the format, but the pros are substantial.

 

[silentstriker]

Double post.

 

[silentstriker]

With the recent and almost constant fighting within the West Indies over cash and contracts and the horrible state of WI cricket finances (recently illustrated here http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/254569.html) I have a question.

This question is a thought exercise that I would like analysed on a purely financial basis and not on any other criteria especially not emotional or historical. I am not advocating the idea just whether theoretically there could be benefits.

Question- Would West Indies cricket benefit financially if there were 2 Test and ODI teams within the region. Lets say for example Jamaica becomes a seperate cricketing entity and the rest of the West Indies carries on under the West Indian banner?

There would be 2 TV contracts
More teams touring the region
Fierce local rivalries played out at the highest international level
More diverse sponsorship opportunities

etc. Would there be more money?

On a playing level it would make a difference but Jamaica is not much smaller than New Zealand (just under 3 mil compared to just over 4 mil) and Zimbabwe formed a half decent Test team from a tiny white population

Extract from Wiki about Zimbabwe-

"The white population dropped from a peak of 275,000 in 1970 to possibly 120,000 in 1999, and was estimated at little more than 85,000 in 2006"

So both teams from the region should be able to produce teams worth the crowd and TV paying to watch

Again, Im not advocating the idea, just wondering if people thought from a purely financial viewpoint whether it would have benefits.

It may make financial sense, but what would make more financial sense is more ODI's and less tests against the major nations.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

In short, it may be beneficial financially, but it's a major con for the game in general, as it just adds another team to the ring that's even less competitive than the West Indies. It'll result in poor cricket and undeserved world records.

Another thing that could happen is total disintegration, as the other boards won't stick together: "Look! Jamaica have Test status! We must have too!"

 

[Langeveldt]

Surely Jamaica would beat Bangladesh and Zimbabwe? And is an independant nation after all, so theres little reason for it not to deserve the right to call itself a test playing nation.. Its not the same as Tamil Nadu splitting from India because it wants to play test cricket to give a random example

The West Indies seems like a bit of a weird grouping of cricketing nations into a geographically convenient name, like joining South Africa and Zimbabwe together and calling them "Southern Africa"

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Surely Jamaica would beat Bangladesh and Zimbabwe?

They were horrible (dead last I think) in the Carib Beer Series this year. Bangladesh would beat Jamaica mefinks, even with all the Test stars.

Besides, what help is it to anything by adding slightly less weak teams just because they could beat the weakest of weak teams?

And is an independant nation after all, so theres little reason for it not to deserve the right to call itself a test playing nation.. Its not the same as Tamil Nadu splitting from India because it wants to play test cricket to give a random example

The thing is that, as stated above, no country in the Caribbean can produce a side of enough quality to achieve Test status. So it really doesn't matter if the independent nations want it, they still shouldn't get it.

These players only have one avenue to play Test cricket without migrating, and that's to represent the West Indies cricket team. It'd be the biggest farce yet if any of the West Indian islands was granted Test status.

The West Indies seems like a bit of a weird grouping of cricketing nations into a geographically convenient name, like joining South Africa and Zimbabwe together and calling them "Southern Africa"

The West Indies was grouped together long before cricket though. The name came about as Colombus sailed to the West to find a safer passage to the East. He then stumbled upon islands and thought he was indeed in the East.

The West Indies is not a cricketing thing. It's a historical thing that came to be incorporated into cricket.

The most important point to note is that the West Indian concept unites a region. These islands share few strong bonds, but cricket is one of them. The Caribbean needs that unity to survive and advance.

As Haakon alluded to above, the move would shatter unity within the Caribbean.