WICB Making Moves to Transform Windies Cricket

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is in the marketplace seeking the support of broadcasters, sponsors, tourist boards and other commercial partners to ensure that its programme of grass roots projects and regional and international events are well publicised and portrayed in the media, supported by the public and bolstered by the key contributions of business communities in the region and from further afield.
 
In a document entitled “Transforming West Indies Cricket”, WICB outlines its vision, in marketing terms, of staging top-class international cricket and revitalising regional cricket with a new portfolio of events, providing entertainment for Windies sports fans and valuable rights packages for commercial partners within the Caribbean region and around the world.
 
The document describes how the Board, embarking on a new era under Chief Executive Officer Dr Ernest Hilaire, has researched and evaluated its sponsorship properties. It goes on to define its brand values and lays out a range of innovative grass roots projects and a schedule of new regional events to establish a narrative around the Caribbean cricket season which culminates in its traditional series of international cricket each year.
 
Aside from the annual Regional Four-day and One-Day tournaments, the Board is launching two spectacular new T20 events and an exciting Beach Cricket project that will help to rejuvenate interest in the game particularly among children and the younger audiences – aged 18 to 24.
 
Terry Blake, former Commercial Director of the England & Wales Cricket Board who has been hired to lead the marketing revival said: “These are exciting times for West Indies Cricket. The senior men’s and women’s teams are about to feature in the International Cricket Council’s World T20, the Under-19s came third in the recent ICC World Cup in New Zealand; and the WICB High Performance Centre is opening in Barbados in May.”
 
He added: “The men’s team has a talented new coach and this a perfect time for commercial partners to support what I believe is an outstanding portfolio of regional events that will attract interest around the region – and in the case of our Regional T20 event and Calypso Cup – from other countries such as North America, United Kingdom and the Indian Sub-Continent.”
 
The Regional T20 Tournament is slated for July 22 to 31, while the dates for the other events will be revealed in the coming months.
 
Blake also noted: “In discussions with our regional boards, governments, tourist boards and commercial partners, we will decide on where these events will be played and then introduce a management team to deliver memorable experiences for fans and sponsors. We have already had a healthy degree of interest from the business community and we look forward to creating valuable, cost effective sponsorship packages that reflect the game from the grass roots right up to the international arena.”