KINGSTON – President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron, is expressing optimism ahead of the revamped regional cricket set-up which should see more players acquiring annual retainer contracts.
The new system took effect from yesterday and will see the WICB having six professional set-ups across the region which will hire a minimum of 105 cricketers annually. That number will amount to 15 players in each of the six territories, along with the 15 already on contracts at the West Indies level.
”We are just trying to set up a professional structure that will have our players working all the time, and for you to be a professional at anything you need a minimum of 10 000 hours,” Cameron said over the weekend.
He continued: “If you are on a retainer [contract], as a good player you should make a minimum of US$30 000 [per year] and as a West Indies player you could earn in excess of US$2 million if you play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“That is actually better than a student coming out of university at entry level. So we believe it is a reasonable income and with that kind of a making we will see the cricketing structure getting better going forward.”
Cameron further explained that the professional structure would be similar to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and would see players drafted to represent foreign territories.
“This year a minimum of ten players will be from Jamaica and the other five will be through a drafting system. Next year it will be the best 15 that Jamaica would like to sign.
“That means you may not have more than 15 Jamaicans playing around the region, so there are more opportunities for Jamaicans.
“If you are good enough, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t have 20 or 30 guys plying their trade throughout the region, very similar to what is happening with the CPL,” he said.
The season will start in November and will have four-day cricket played in a home and away format, paving the way for a minimum of ten games.
The four-day tournament will then break in January to make way for the Super50 limited-overs tournament. The four-day competition will resume thereafter and culminate in March. (BA/PR)
