While many cricket boards were already facing trouble to generate funds, the present coronavirus pandemic has brought more trouble for these boards. Meanwhile, since last January, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) has failed to pay match fees to all their cricketers due to a severe cash crunch. The CWI has admitted this latest issue.
For a long time, the CWI is facing funds issue. The payment issues have weakened the relationship between the board members and players for several times. Now, the Caribbean board is again facing a deep problem as the players haven’t got their match fees since the last January.
In last January, Ireland toured West Indies for the limited-overs series. Later, the Caribbean team toured in Sri Lanka for the limited-overs series in February-March.
On the other hand, the West Indies Women played four Women’s ODIs during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in last February-March.
Monthly salary are up-to-date: Cricket West Indies confirmed
The CWI has confirmed that the monthly salary and allowances have been paid up-to-date. However, the board is struggling to pay the match fees of the players, including first-class cricketers.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the secretary of the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), Wayne Lewis said, “Monthly salary (and allowances) are up-to-date. The problem we are having is the retained players in the regional first-class competition have not been paid their match fees for the eight rounds that have been played so far.”
The coronavirus has set up the difficult future of international cricket in the upcoming season. Talking about West Indies’ recent most upcoming schedule, their England tour is widely doubtful while the Netherlands have already postponed all the international cricket fixtures for the forthcoming home season due to the Dutch government’s decision to ban all the events in the country.
On the other hand, New Zealand and South Africa have also the plans to tour in West Indies in July-August. However, these series are also doubtful due to the coronavirus pandemic.