Dear Editor,
Firstly let me acknowledge that the Limacol CPL T20 Tournament seems to be a rip-roaring success. The sponsors, the organisers, the players, the volunteers and the Caribbean people should all take a bow for a superb spectacle which should make all concerned proud to be West Indian once again. However there are a few burning questions that range from the financial to the intellectual, that make me wonder what were the powers-that-be thinking.
(1) Why on earth were more of the matches not played during the cool of night, when more people were off work and would therefore be more willing to attend? Keen observation of the match attendances on TV would have indicated the greater attendances at the night matches. By the way, I pity those poor cheerleaders who had to gyrate with great gusto and pleasantness in the 90 degree heat.
(2) Who decided the ticket prices for the individual territories? Obviously this was not done with the purchasing power of the individual currencies in mind nor was it based on the potential audiences and the old economic laws of supply and demand. Guyanese whose unfortunate G$ is the lowest vis-à-vis the US$ had the highest possible ticket prices at US$25. Jamaica and Grenada, however, had the lowest possible price of US$8 (less than 1/3 the GT tickets). Something ain’t quite right.
(3) How come St Kitts with a population of 51,000 people had 9, repeat 9 matches in succession scheduled there while Jamaica with a population almost 60 times as much (nearly 3 million) only had 3 matches? To have a capacity crowd in St Kitts almost one third of the island has to show up (plus or minus a few tourists) and the finals could have drawn twice as big an audience had it been scheduled elsewhere with more favourable ticket prices to enhance the WICBC’s coffers. Maybe, just maybe, the Board is so flushed with sponsorship and TV rights money that potential gate receipts are no longer important. Should that be so, perhaps asking for more reasonable ticket prices for the poor souls in Guyana would definitely be in order.
(4) The TV coverage on ESPN was indeed excellent, but sometimes I was tempted to think that I was watching an English or New Zealand cricket tournament. I will be the first to support any commentator’s right to make a living wherever he sees fit, and I have often times heard Ian Bishop and Jeffrey Dujon commentating overseas with great polish and aplomb, I might add. However, with the exception of Darren Ganga and Ian Bishop, all the TV commentators are either Kiwi or English. Maybe it is our innate inferiority complex that allows a preponderance of foreign accents to be evident on the TV coverage originating from the Caribbean. Trust me VS Naipaul would rue (or maybe cherish) the day there is a preponderance of Caribbean accents emanating from a TV commentary originating from Lord’s Cricket Ground. Please, please, please somebody wake and see the light. A special exemption for ‘Danny Morrison.’
I don’t expect much, but come 2015 Limacol CPL T20 I would gladly like to see my fleeting observations have not blown idly by with the Caribbean tradewinds (like the freshness of a breeze in bottle). Rooting for Guyana all the way and with Mr Jagdeo hopefully in the ground again, they can’t lose.
Yours faithfully,
Keith Francis
Florida
