The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) will soon have to sit and discuss mutual financial matters given the prevailing economic situation brought on by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, says Barbados Cricket Association member Roland Butcher.
The current pandemic has ruined international cricket in 2020 and has led to a number of players associations, including Australia and England representatives, reaching agreements with their respective governing boards to keep the sport viable. The players associations have agreed to salary cuts and monetary contributions to sustain the game.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Butcher said there were already issues relating to financing cricket in the region and the pandemic had only made the situation worse. He said a discussion on the subject between WIPA and CWI seemed inevitable, as it could not be business as usual. He said the discussion between the two entities would more than likely revolve around those players with central contracts.
“I would suspect that at some point in time that discussion will take place with WIPA. I would be very surprised if it didn’t and this is just my personal opinion. At the end of the day, the sport will have to survive. So at times there will have to be certain measures to make sure that the sport survives. If everyone at this time just wants to take what they can, then the sport will not survive, they will not survive, the future players will not survive either. So it is something that everybody is going to have to bring their hands to the pump and try and deal with,” the veteran cricket administrator noted
The former Barbados opener and England international added: “Obviously, Australia and other places, they have taken different routes to get to the situation. England players have put up a figure from their contracts to help support the game, instead of taking a percentage of their wage cut. “
Butcher, who was instrumental in the development and major success of the cricket programme at the University of the West Indies, made a comparison to sacrifices that some top-flight footballers were making to maintain the viability of their sport.
“Obviously in football some players have taken a wage cut, and there is still some discussion with the football players association in relation to how they deal with that. But certainly at the top level, the top level is going to have to show some type of leadership because this is not a normal time. And nobody knows how long it [pandemic] is going to last,” Butcher said.
He added: “West Indies have already got a number of series that are in jeopardy. Not just jeopardy, I would think the England series, which was supposed to be next month will not happen. At this time you’ve got New Zealand, South Africa is supposed to come to the region, obviously that is very much in doubt. And even though October might seem a long way away, it is possible that the World Cup in Australia could be in doubt. If that happens, which means it won’t take place, ICC revenues are down even further. So West Indies who rely heavily, like all the other countries, on ICC share-outs, will also be struggling at those major events. So right now it is not an easy time particularly for the Caribbean and it will be interesting when that discussion takes place with WIPA what the players’ reactions are in relation to any idea that is put on the board in relation to central contracts.”
Butcher suggested that the pandemic could also have an effect on revenues from television rights. “It will affect it because I think the television deal hasn’t really been tied up, so to speak. That is still up in the air. So obviously, I don’t think any broadcasters are going to rush to sign any deals until they know when there is going to be action. The longer this thing goes on really, West Indies will suffer, perhaps more than any other major Test playing country,” he said, adding that CWI did not have the financial muscle of some of the other nations.
He explained: “We don’t have any reserves. England, Australia and people like that can survive because over the years of plenty they have put aside large sums of money. So that in the event that something like this – not that they knew this particular thing was going to happen – in the event that cricket would not be able to play for a year the game in Australia and England could still survive. Hence, the ECB is able to put ₤40-60 million into supporting the counties to make sure that they survive. So we are not in that position as the [CWI] president has said on a number of occasions.
“We have spent future earnings. So when you spend future earnings and those future earnings are now compromised and also the projection of those future earnings, are now far less than they were. Because West Indies was supposed to get over an eight-year period something like US$120 million, the projection even before this pandemic started was that you would get less than the $120 [million]. With this now . . . you can expect over that cycle for that to come down even further. When you operate on the basis of receiving this over an eight-year period and spend accordingly, which West Indies have been doing over a number of years, you find yourself in a much bigger hole than Australia who say, every year at the end of an international series, put away a certain amount of money for a rainy day.”
Butcher noted that at this juncture the game was very much at the crossroads and the length of time it took for the situation to return to normalcy would decide what really happens with West Indies cricket.
WIPA president Wavell Hinds was contacted in Jamaica for his input but indicated he was at a meeting. An effort to reach him subsequently proved futile.
