Source :Jamaica Gleaner
Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring has clarified statements suggesting that governments in the Caribbean have proven unreliable in their support of the regional cricket body.
According to Dehring, governments in the region have no choice but to prioritise the affairs of their people and therefore what is unreliable aren’t governments but a model that depends on them in an environment that is economically challenging.
“A bit taken out of context,” said Dehring of an October 20 Gleaner editorial titled ‘Dismantling WI Cricket?’.
“… But the point that I make is that any business model that is dependent on Caribbean governments is not a safe, secure business model,” he said.
In the Caribbean, while cricket is as important as anywhere else in the world, the challenge of developing nations, Dehring believes, means governments, as willing as they may be, have to prioritise differently.
“Our Caribbean governments already have so many issues to resolve, our hospitals, our healthcare industries, our schools, our education, and so on. There are so many demands of government that you cannot rely on government to be the core of your business model,” said Dehring.
‘Priorities change’
The principle of government assistance based on the public good West Indies cricket represents is not unwelcome for Dehring and CWI, just that it cannot represent the core of its business model.
“Whilst we welcome government assistance, that cannot be the fundamental basis for Cricket West Indies continuing. I’ve also made the point that Caribbean governments have, in the past, made pledges of support, etc. To my very point, they’re not able to sustain it because of other demands that come into play.
“Governments change, and priorities change at any point in time. When a hurricane hits a country, you really can’t fault the government for going in for the investment in cricket and dealing with the population that has been hit by a hurricane. That’s the point that I make.”
In fact, rather than categorise governments as unreliable, Dehring believes they have been “very supportive”.
“Certainly, when you look at the new facilities that were built for Cricket World Cup 2007, that has helped to sustain an industry.
“It spawned things like the Caribbean Premier League, which has been a very successful league, probably the second most watched league in the world, and so on.”
Still, Dehring believes CWI’s importance to the region means that, if governments can contribute to cricket’s governing body in the region, they should.
“Now, I also believe that Cricket West Indies deserves consideration for contribution, given what it contributes to the society.
“Remember, 90 per cent of our earnings come from outside of the region, or international broadcast rights, international sponsorships. You put us down; we are probably one of the region’s biggest exporters, but we export our IP, our intellectual property,” he said.
