By Cosmo Hamilton
Dear President Cameron.
In his book – A History of West Indies Cricket, published in 1988 and chronicling West Indies cricket from 1906 through 1987, the late Jamaica Prime Minister Michael Manley wrote – “At a political level, the University of the West Indies apart, cricket is the most completely regional activity undertaken by the people of the member states of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM. It is also the most successful co-operative endeavor and, as such, is a constant reminder of a people of otherwise wayward insularity of the value of collaboration.”
Mr. Manley who was an astute cricket historian, a great thinker and one of the more prolific writers of his time, would have been no doubt chagrined to have witnessed the precipitous decline of his beloved West Indies cricket that occurred not long after his demise that has painfully continued although with glimmers of hope for revival. With that graphic synopsis of the importance of cricket to the people of the region there is hardly time for a honeymoon President Cameron. And any victory lap should be more than just a photo opportunity, but must be tethered to a holistic action plan for the return of West Indies cricket to respectability.
With the dizzying developments that are continuously occurring in cricket – Test cricket, Limited Overs cricket, most recently T20 International cricket, as well as International Women’s cricket, the training modalities and equipment, demanding team and individual player schedules, player contracts, the necessity of state-of-the-art facilities, the maintenance of various specialized teams, funding of West Indies cricket as a major member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is critical to sustain competitive performance levels.
With regards to funding Mr. President, stakeholders should include Territorial Boards, Governmental and non-Governmental Agencies, Corporations, Airlines, Hotel and Tourism organizations, Major Media, Social Media, and the World Wide Web, and sports gear companies such as Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Puma and others, as well as sports drinks and beverage manufacturers like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Banks, Carib Beer, Red Stripe and others.
For profitable and efficient administration of West Indies cricket domestically in particular, major sponsorship of all tournaments including Test cricket, Four-Day tournaments, Limited Overs tournaments, and Women’s tournaments, is essential. No regional tournament should be staged without a comprehensively negotiated title sponsorship. These efforts would ensure lucrative returns and benefits to all parties concerned – the Board, sponsors, the players, and fans.
Mr. President, major intitiatives should be undertaken professionally in the promotion of Test matches and all tournaments within the territories of the Caribbean as well as outside of the region through the media and publicity campaigns to maximize interest, attendance, excitement and involvement amongst the public and the business community.
West Indies cricket ought to be a vehicle for regional companies to become internationally known, thus generating significant revenues for the game and substantial profits for the companies while delivering a major boost to local economies. Mr. President, West Indies cricket properly marketed provides the opportunity of the Caribbean as a fertile environment for viable economic initiatives for business and industries large and small.
A large scale sales and promotion effort should also be launched to market West Indies cricket hallmarked gear in every territory within the region and throughout the world. Despite losing much of its marquee value over the past two decades, there remains a significant following and fan base throughout the world for the unique brand of Windies cricket. Much of this continuing interest is the residual effect of the indelible impression created by the dominant West Indies teams of the 70’s and 80’s.
The Board must now make more than a token attempt worldwide to market West Indies memorabilia year round. West Indies cricket gear should not only be worn by our esteemed cricketers but should be a fun part of the wardrobe of the thousands and thousands of fans throughout the region and around the world much like the Manchester United or Arsenal shirt or the ubiquitous New York Yankees logo.
A potentially lucrative market for these products would be the United Kingdom, the United States, particularly in states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut – the New York Metropolitan area, as well as Florida, Georgia and California with large populations of Caribbean and Commonwealth natives, and Canada, where cricket is played at a higher level with even more frequency than the USA.
To sustain a high level of marketability of official West Indies gear and its myriad memorabilia, the success of the Windies brand on the field is vitally important. In that regard the ideal launching pad for the Board would be the Caribbean Premier League set to begin in July. Mr. President these revenue generating ventures including Television contracts along with ICC tours and finances would all positively impact on the profitable and efficient administration of West Indies cricket. These efforts sir, must be augmented by imaginative marketing strategies executed by experienced professionals that would propel West Indies cricket to exponential growth.
