Stakeholder weighs in as CWI tackles financial strain

SPORTS MEDICINE specialist Dr Akshai Mansingh has laid blame at cricket’s world governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) for teams, such as the West Indies experiencing tough financial times.

“The ICC must decide whether they want to make this a global sport or not,” a strident Dr Mansingh told The Gleaner in an exclusive interview.

His comments follow austerity cuts announced by CEO of Cricket West Indies Chris Dehring including reduced player contracts and the suspension of two major tournaments to rebalance the finances of the regional board.

Dr Mansingh, who is widely recognised for his extensive work with regional and international cricket and who has served as a key member of CWI’s medical committee, added that the ICC must quickly work out “whether they want it (the sport) to be something that fills the coffers of the top cricketing nations”.

“So when 80 per cent of your revenues are going to India, Australia and England, all the other countries are going to struggle with development,” he argued.

“And what you’re seeing in the West Indies is going to be mirrored in Zimbabwe, in New Zealand, in Afghanistan, and just about all of the other minor countries when we talk about internal size,” Dr Mansingh added, noting further that there’s a serious problem.

The sports medicine specialist reasoned that the CWI’s financial issues were exacerbated by what he termed as a “very hastily started franchise system” a decade ago.

“I say hastily started because it was not thought through, and it was imposed on the territories very quickly,” he reasoned. “And what that meant was that about 60 per cent of the running expenses were given by Cricket West Indies (CWI) for the franchises, and 40 per cent had been raised by the local franchises. Tthat was untenable,” Dr Mansingh told The Gleaner.

Dehring, meanwhile, has addressed concerns surrounding CWI’s financial position, including questions about the organisation’s ability to meet its obligations and continue investing in cricket.

“Insolvency is not a word I would use,” Dehring said while speaking on the Mason and Guest show on Tuesday. “The nature of a sporting organisation like Cricket West Indies is not about just generating (funds). Whatever money is made it put into cricket development.” the CWI CEO added.

Dr Mansingh also suggested solutions involving both the ICC and CWI, calling for increased investment in areas such as elite coaching and player development.

“Then from a cricket westerner’s point of view, I think there’s a view as to whether it’s more important to have developmental camps, have developmental cricket and have competitive cricket from which you pick a pool of players, or whether it makes more sense to have a centralised system where you reduce the cut,” he reasoned.

He also raised concerns about the apparent lack of oversight at high-performance centres while referencing the reduction of central and regional franchise contracts.

“I haven’t heard anything about reducing staff and you process these high performance centres with what sounds like very little monitoring from any high-level coaching staff,” Dr Mansingh further explained.

christopher.scott@rjrgleaner.com