West Indies cricket team in action© AFP
West Indies Cricket CEO Jonny Grave slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other top cricketing nations in a fiery rant over the state of affairs in the sport right now. In a recent interaction, Grave alleged that ‘world cricket’ is doing everything in their power to make sure that West Indies are never strong again. The Windies were a huge force in the world of cricket in the 1970s and 80s but over the years, they have fallen in the list of top sides in the world. Grave’s comments came right after West Indies’ tour of Australia in January-February 2024 where the Test series ended 1-1.
“I think everyone is a bit sick of the phrase – world cricket needs a strong West Indies – when we definitely feel that world cricket is doing everything they can at almost every level to make sure that West Indies Cricket are never strong again,” West Indies CEO Jonny Grave told Daniel Gallan in a podcast.
Grave also said that the financial model followed by ICC in global cricket is not working and it has actually led to West Indies Cricket losing 5-7 per cent of revenue.
“I think that’s the borne of the frustration of that as Ian Bishop says in his own words that this is a patronising tone. If you really want a strong West Indies Cricket, it would actually not be that hard to do a bit more. ICC are giving us more money in headlines but our percentage of revenue has gone down from 7% to 5%, which we struggle to understand.”
“If we all just are looking after ourselves then are we really acting as a community? Are we putting the best product on the field?” he added.
Topics mentioned in this article
