Cozier on the WICB

[Ninjaman]

Have a look at this article:

http://www.nationnews.com/story/334389586723753.php

Comments?

[Andy Mellon]

It never rains, but it pours eh, Ninjaman!

Not only are the West Indies suffering from their having their least effective team for decades, but this coincides with a time that the financial constraints are increased! Coupled with this, it seems like some of their officials have been milking the WICB for as much as they can get! I would not be surprised if such allegations from Tony Cozier would attract the interest of the Caribbean equivalent of the Fraud Squad.

What is most upsetting is the impact that Cozier reports this will have. Academies closed, domestic fixtures reduced - it can only be bad for the strength of West Indian cricket. And who should be suffering? Those people who've ripped off the WICB in the first place - not the cricketers who are being impoverished because of it!

Hopefully the ICC might be able to negotiate some support for the WICB through this crisis. World cricket needs a strong West Indies, and I'm sure all cricket fans here would love to see a strong West Indies - and without the cash support from a powerful WICB, that is not going to happen!

[Occasional Fan]

It's always very easy to knock the "fat cat directors", but there's no suggestion here that they have done anything illegal. So we need to be a bit careful about that. That's not to take away from the argument as to whether the right people are doing the job or whether they are being paid too much to do it - all successful businesses, and the WICB is one, need to keep a rein on the cost line, of course. But it's not clear to me who the people receiving these high per diems are accountable to. The easy answer is that they are accountable to WI cricket in general, but that's no corporate or legal answer and it will get us nowhere. One hopes that some account will be taken of the recommendations which Tony Cozier refers to, however, for the good of the WI and world game. It may mean that the people need to change: maybe they will even want to move on if they feel that they can improve their personal lot by taking their skills into the corporate sector. Whatever happens, I agree that something has to, or the world game will be much the poorer.

More concerning to me in this report is the information about the ICC FTP and who pays for overseas tours. I really had no idea that this arrangement existed up to now, and it takes about three seconds to see that it is completely potty in the case of WI, a region - not a country - where flight and accommodation costs are high and gate receipts (notwithstanding the horrible surcharge put on England's travelling supporters last time out) are generally low. If the WICB was accommodating the England team and management at anything approaching the cost I had to pay last time I was privileged to be in Barbados, it's no wonder they are going bust. Quite frankly, and without looking at all at the ECB's finances, if they, who have the highest ticket prices in the world by a street, cannot pay their own accommodation and flights, they are doing something wrong. I'm all for an arrangement which allows the richer boards to subsidise the poorer in the interests of the international game: it's arguable that countries such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would never be able to afford foreign tours to England without some kind of assistance. But it is silly to impose this kind of "one size fits all" solution as the ICC has. All rather depressing.

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Occasional Fan

notwithstanding the horrible surcharge put on England's travelling supporters last time out

At least reading this report makes this particular own-goal from the WICB a little more understandable!! Thanks Ninjaman for posting the link, these sort of articles really help open the eyes about what's going on in cricket around the world!

[Occasional Fan]

Indeed it does, Andy, and to be honest, from what I saw in Barbados, it wasn't an own goal from the financial viewpoint. We all sat around and griped about it, of course - what would the world expect from thousands of Brits abroad? - but the fact is that there were thousands of Brits there, the vast majority of whom paid the price they were asked.

PR problem: maybe - but we'll all have forgotten it by the time the next opportunity comes around for a bit of Caribbean sun. Financially it was all rather astute.

[Andy Mellon]

But this report shows that even by getting the England supporters to pay more, the WICB have still slipped further into the red! I doubt they'll be able to increase ticket prices still further for overseas fans on future tours, so this goes to highlight even more that something needs to be done to relieve the cost burden and increase the income that the WICB receive...

All I can say, is good luck to them!!

[Occasional Fan]

Sure - but the point is that the surcharge on the English tourists was paid by most people. I can't remember the details now, but it was very significant - more than 100% of the base ticket price, I think. And the Kensington Oval was a sell-out. If you're sold out, the right financial step to take is to rack the price up as high as you can. As a consumer, I didn't like it much, but if I were issuing the tickets I'd be happy enough with the financial outcome - maybe only questioning why, if I sold out anyway, I hadn't set the price even higher.

[Uham]

A little unfare