PM Mottley: We cannot depend solely on CWI for cricket

Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley has made it clear that her country will not depend exclusively on Cricket West Indies (CWI) for cricketing opportunities.

Her comments have come in the wake of CWI’s decision not to award Kensington Oval any regional or international matches in 2026.

In adding her voice to the controversial move, Mottley said it was obvious Barbados could not rely solely on CWI.

She said that was one of the reasons the country lobbied for the finals of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to be played at Kensington Oval.

“It was clear to us that we could not only rely on Cricket West Indies for cricket in this country and that is why we made a deliberate decision to go after the CPL finals here and to be also able to see what else we can do to boost the opportunities for Bajans in the entire game of cricket, not just as players, but as umpires and as persons who are involved in the ecosystem period,” Mottley said.

Kensington, commonly referred to as ‘The Mecca’, will not host any of the four Tests, six One Day Internationals or six T20Is scheduled to be played between June and August during home series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan later this year.

Those matches will be held in Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

The move has drawn criticism across Barbados, with both the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president, Calvin Hope and chairman of Kensington Oval Management Inc (KOMI), speaking out against CWI’s decision.

(CMC)