Dear Editor,
Caribbean people built West Indies cricket. We filled the stands, sent our sons and daughters into the game, and carried the maroon with pride when the world feared it. Today that pride is being drained, and those running the game owe us an explanation.
The promise, and the reality. Chris Dehring took over as CEO on February 1st, 2025. At his appointment, CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow called it “the start of a new era for West Indies cricket” and said Dehring’s vision and experience made him the right person to guide the region through a period of transformation, on and off the field. He called for bold decisions and said he was confident Dehring would steer us toward that future. Nearly twenty-one months later, the results could hardly be further from that promise: heavy losses, shrinking competitions, an unchecked coach, and no public accountability.
Start with the money. The figures circulating from CWI’s accounts show a US$22.6 million profit in 2024, then a US$28.5 million loss in 2025, with another loss near US$26 million projected for 2026. The CEO himself has said the profits from co-hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup are already gone. A windfall was spent, and we have yet to see a recovery plan.
Now look at what is being cut to cover the hole. The Under-17 tournament has been scrapped, the women’s competitions merged, and the Combined Campuses and Colleges and West Indies Academy teams removed from the men’s competitions. These are the pathways our young talent walks. You do not fix a struggling team by cutting the road that produces its players.
We keep hearing that the ICC revenue model is to blame. CEO Chris Dehring says a series in India could earn $20–30 million while West Indies cricket receives nothing directly from it. That grievance may be fair. But the model was no secret when he took the job. Leaders are judged on how they manage the game as it is, not on describing how unfair it is.
Who holds the coach accountable?
Darren Sammy was hired as Head Coach, and the results have been abysmal. Who oversees his performance? Against what targets was he hired to deliver, and who checks them? Instead of being held to account, Sammy has reportedly been handed the role of sole selector. These two jobs conflict. A coach is hired to develop players and build a team. A selector decides who gets picked. Put both in one person with no oversight, and nobody is left to question the choices or measure them against results. Other major cricketing nations use selection committees precisely to provide that check. West Indies cricket does not. Is it any wonder the results are what they are?
Questions about selection that deserve answers.
For years, supporters have asked why talented players of East Indian descent, including Gudakesh Motie and Amir Jangoo, keep finding themselves on the outside when their performances seem to merit selection. There have been matches where the team took the field without a single East Indian player, in a region where East Indians, at home and in the diaspora, are a significant part of the population. Even England’s Moeen Ali, a regular in the CPL, has reportedly urged Sammy to stop picking favourites and choose the best available players. We do not need to claim motive to say this: selection must rest on merit, performance and equal opportunity, never on ethnicity or favouritism, because bias in selection directly weakens the team. Without an independent selection committee, no one can credibly answer these concerns. That is the point. Transparency would either clear the process or fix it.
Responsibility is shared, and it must be owned.
The CEO runs the executive and answers for results. The management team carries out the plans. The 17-member Board, led by the very President who announced this new era, appoints the leadership, sets the governance structure and oversees performance. The CEO, the management team and every one of the 17 directors must accept responsibility, publicly and by name.
The promised transparency has not arrived.
CWI’s 2024–2025 Strategic Plan commits the organization to reviews and transparency. Several written requests have since been sent asking for those reviews. From the standpoint of public disclosure, nothing has been published. A body that promises accountability in writing and then ignores requests to deliver it is hiding behind its own documents.
The CPL fills stadiums across our islands, which tells us the fans are still here. It is the product and the governance that are failing them.
To our governments, territorial boards and supporters: demand more.
A published financial recovery plan.
The reviews the Strategic Plan promised, released publicly.
An independent selection committee, separate from the coaching staff.
An independent examination of selection practices, with published criteria.
Measurable performance targets for the CEO, the coach and the Board.
A Board small enough to be held to them.
West Indies cricket does not belong to seventeen directors. It belongs to all of us. Consequently, those with the reins of its leadership must be held accountable for the current state of crisis as a result of their decisions and actions.
Yours faithfully,
Kris Kooblall
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