Cricket facilities with no marketing plan

There are therefore a total of four test matches, five One Day Internationals (ODI) and one Twenty/20 encounter.

A cursory look at the venues selected spells a rather interesting tale about the perception of the West Indies Cricket Board of the fortunes of the game in the region. Some may, of course, suggest that it all has to do with marketing.

The Islands

When the Cricket World Cup 2007 (CWC2007) was being prepared for in the Caribbean, governments were seemingly anxious to expend millions of dollars in the construction of what they perceived to be the requisite infrastructure for the development of the sport in their respective countries in the future.

It appeared then just as it does now, that the governmental authorities were, for the most part, led by their noses by their respective Local Organising Committees, with some complicity from the national governing bodies for the sport who were obviously keen on being provided with top quality facilities.

In some cases the cricket authorities were glad that the fanciful and massive structures with which they were provided were not owned by them. Had this not been the case they would not be burdened with the problems associated with the maintenance of the aforementioned facilities, the cost of which could be exorbitant. They were content with being able to access them and to convince the WICB that they now possess the capacity to host major international cricketing contests.

Unfortunately for many of the countries whose governments made hefty investments in the cricket facilities the sport continues to die. Many are not attracting today’s youths to the sport and cannot generate interest in the competitions at the local and regional levels. They cannot therefore rely on gate receipts from matches of the aforementioned sorts to facilitate even a small proportion of the monies required to cover maintenance costs. The result is therefore gradual ruination of many of the facilities or the expansion of their usage for all sorts of activities other than the sport for which they were intended.