PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — A two-day regional conference on West Indies cricket got underway in Trinidad on Thursday with stakeholders, including government and administrators, seeking to develop strategies to reinvigorate the game that once had the Caribbean at the pinnacle of the global sport.

The conference is being hosted by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) grouping and host Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley emphasised the “cultural and emotional significance” of cricket in the West Indies, linking national pride to the performance of the team over several decades.

“West Indies cricket creates a strange nation, but it’s an effective one, because we have been world leaders in this game that we love so much. And you may ask, why is it important for us to want a reinvigoration of West Indies cricket? It is because our Caribbean nation is lifted when we win, when we play well, and we are depressed, and we don’t do well in cricket.”

But Rowley, who is the  chair of the Caricom Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket, acknowledged that there are “challenges in cricket management” noting the “dissatisfaction with the current management of West Indies cricket” while highlighting issues both on and off the field.

“We are not the first nation to have had issues with our game, but what drove this conference to its reality today is an impatience and an understanding that, unlike other nations that have had downs in their cricket history, we in the Caribbean seem to be taking a very long time to come out of our downturn in cricket.

“Many West Indies don’t realise that. We are, in fact, the smallest population of people who are playing this game and wanting to compete at the highest level and having set records of all kinds. But there’s something about us in the Caribbean that might be special in this game because we could play this game.”

Rowley said that there was also “the need to understand and manage cricket not only as a sport but also as a business” with a call for professional management of resources.

He suggested that the conference conduct a SWOT analysis to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing West Indies cricket.

In his address Rowley said there is a need to revisit the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) contract to ensure it is “fair and beneficial” for West Indies cricket.

Rowley also warned the region of the threat of losing cricket culture if facilities like cricket fields and nets are not maintained in schools and communities.

He said that despite management issues players often unite effectively as a team, suggesting that problems lie more with administration than with team spirit.

Rowley called for a commitment to strategic planning to ensure the future success and sustainability of West Indies cricket.

Cricket West Indies President, Dr Kishore Shallow, in his address sought to connect cricket to West Indian identity, suggesting that the sport reflects and enhances regional solidarity and pride.

But as he spoke of the current vulnerable state of West Indies cricket despite its past dominance, and the challenges it faces in maintaining top world rankings, Shallow spoke also of the insularity and nationalistic behaviours.

He made reference to the works of the late CLR James and former Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley that looked at issues like insularity and nationalistic behaviours as part of the challenges.

“In fact, to the average fan, certainly the younger generation, our reality may even be perplexing, wondering, you know, what are we talking about? What great institution? If you’re only just tuning in to West Indies cricket.

“Quite often, I hear the question such as, how can an institution that held such dominance once upon a time be so vulnerable now? And why have we dominated in every single format of the game at some point, but yet there are still struggles for us to be in the top five of the world ranking?”

Shallow said that there is need to accept and acknowledge the deficiencies and challenges documented in various texts to begin resolving them and that while individual brilliance is notable, sustained success requires collective effort and understanding of roles within the team.

He recalled the reactions of the global community to the failure of the West Indies team to qualify for the World Cup in recent years, and viewed the symposium “as a starting point for addressing and accepting the challenges faced by West Indies cricket”.

“So in order to proceed with fixing or resolving our issues and challenges, we have to accept the deficiencies. Those diagnoses over the years in countless texts that are so well documented and available to us, we have to accept what we need to fix.

“And I believe this symposium this morning is a starting point, of course, of accepting the challenges that we face, our shortfalls over the years, the countless suggestions made to us, including former heads of governments, but certainly cricket administrators, that these suggestions that have fallen deaf over the years must now be accepted.”

In her address to the opening ceremony, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said that cricket in the region is “more than bat and ball”  underscoring also the importance of having the game played by both boys and girls at the highest level.

But Mottley said that there has to be an ecosystem that is developed and a recognition that a core part of the development strategy of the region must include opportunities for the region’s  sportsmen of which “cricket is the one along with team sport that has most allowed us to be learned to be to be accepted globally as a legitimate brand.

She said that this could be done by exporting persons to help in coaching across the world,  supplying world class and first class umpires as well as getting in the business of keeping the field and the outfield and the pitches in good form or in the ability to sell pitches to the United States instead of them buying from Australia.

The CARICOM chairman and Guyana President, Dr Irfaan Ali in his virtual address, emphasised the need for strategic planning and brand repositioning.

Discussing the rise of franchise cricket, economic factors influencing player decisions, and the importance of talent development, Ali highlighted strategies for revitalising the cricket ecosystem through governance reforms, fan engagement, and cultural integration.

“Cricket is played in the hearts of our people. It is played to encourage positive living, and we have to look at the entire cricketing ecosystem if we are to address the issues of cricket in the region.

“Cricket is linked directly to our economies, linked to our tourism product, and we have to honestly analyze whether we have redefined our brand to incorporate all the factors that cricket is linked to in this region,” Ali said.

Ali said that he has developed a comprehensive presentation in which he “sought to look at some threats, opportunities, and for us to redefine the ecosystem of cricket West Indies”.

“We, in this region, bring excitement with our fast bowling, our attacking stroke play. We don’t need to change this. We need to master this. We need to grow this.

“We need to expand this as our brand. And then, beyond the bunk, there are some important things that we have to look at. Our vibes, our culture, our entertainment, our food, our tourism, our markets, our merchandising, integrating other sports with the societal integration, positive living, community orientation.”

Ali said that all of these are factors beyond the boundary that must be integrated into this cricketing plan that we must develop.

“When you look at West Indies fans and West Indies cricketing environment in the stands, you must not see sea drinking and clapping. You must see a different vibe, a different energy, Ali said that the symposium cannot end without discussing the threats to West Indies cricket, noting that the threats with the growing North American cricket that can bring in a lot more fans, a lot more revenue.

“I believe that we need to examine whether we need to move West Indies cricket board, West Indies cricket from West Indies cricket board to the American cricket board. Because we have to now work towards owning cricket in America.

“And how do we develop a strategy where West Indies cricket become the owner of cricket within the Americas? These are things that I think we have to address,” Ali added.