BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, GDP – West Indies Cricket president Ricky Skerritt has defended the decision to allow the Caribbean side to tour the United Kingdom last year at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that great benefits have come from the move. , including cementing English series in the region next January.
Skerritt, who is seeking re-election at the end of the month along with vice president Dr Kishore Shallow, said discussions about the traditionally lucrative series have begun during discussions over the historic three-biosecurity Tests tour.
And the former cabinet minister for St Kitts and Nevis said that because of CWI’s commitment to carry out the journey amidst the challenging circumstances posed by the coronavirus, the governing body was able to submit a proposal to the England and Wales Cricket Board for an even bigger trip.
“The other benefit is that we started discussions back then for their next (England) trip to the West Indies scheduled for January 2022 which is less than a year from now,” Skerritt told channel YouTube TalkSports Grenada Sports.
“And the goodwill that has been generated between us has now allowed us to get on board and have good traction on expanding that journey.
“Now a trip from England to the West Indies is always very good for the West Indies financially and economically because we get more money for the broadcast we own, because England a much larger and more profitable cricket market, and [Caribbean] countries that host the England team get economic benefits from the impact on tourism. ”
Tours of the region by the English side have been estimated to generate economic activity of around US $ 60 million, in what is considered a major boost for tourism-dependent economies.
It was predicted that the final tour in 2019 comprising three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20s, would win CWI alone close to US $ 20 million.
CWI had faced criticism from some quarters for taking the trip forward last year even as the UK remained in lockdown due to the onset of the pandemic, and was also penalized for not securing ECB financial surprises in return for playing the series.
However, Skerritt said that trying to squeeze money out of the ECB in return for the trip was “extortion”, and argued that other more far-reaching benefits had been realized.
“Extortion is illegal, corruption is extortion. We’re not going to extortion, ”Skerritt stressed.
“Not allowed. It is against the spirit and rules of the Future Travel Program. The only people making money out of a trip are the hosts, except with your own sponsorship, so we went to England to benefit our big sponsor Sandals. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that.
“England is a big market for Sandals. Wherever we go, we take their brand with us so when we went to England we helped meet our agreement with Sandals to continue to promote their brand because if we don’t promoting their brand, they’re not going to pay us.
“So above all, going to England benefited us financially from our arrangement with our main sponsor.”
He continued: “Secondly we got the ECB to enable us to bring in a significant number of team A players. I know we are over [25] players in England at one time. This was a good exposure for many of our young cricketers who rose well for preparation and growth.
“So even if they weren’t playing in the official Test series, they were practicing, they were net bowlers, they were etcetera back-up players.”
With the series, West Indies became the first international team to tour during the pandemic, playing in what is now known as a “bio-safe” bubble.
Skerritt said the decision was one the regional governing body was proud of.
“So we have no regrets about how we handled the English situation. If we didn’t go to England, they were other teams that were ready to go, ”he noted.
“Pakistan went to England, Australia went to England right after us. Why would it be? [anyone] think we were the only team that can tour England? ”
He added: “I am happy to say that we have been able to create this biosafety bubble in conjunction with the ECB. We are the pioneers in that. You hear it happening all over the world now but we are the pioneers.
“We were the first to partner with the ECB and prepare what we call a biosafety bubble, and it is now the model used worldwide.”
Skerritt is being challenged for CWI presidency by Guyana Cricket Board secretary Anand Sanasie, who as Barbados Cricket Association’s vice president Calvin Hope, is his running mate.