Cricket West Indies announces 25% pay cut for players amidst financial crunch

Cricket West Indies has suspended this year’s Men’s Super50 and Women’s T20 Blaze to save money and focus on preparing its main ODI players for the 2027 World Cup Qualifiers and World Cup. | Photo Credit: GIRI KVS

Confronted with financial constraints, Cricket West Indies on Friday announced a 25% pay cut for its international players, along with a series of other measures to deal with the situation.

The board said international players will continue to remain on 12-month contracts despite the pay cut, while domestic players will now have their retainer contracts reduced to seven months.

Additionally, the board has suspended this year’s Men’s Super50 and Women’s T20 Blaze to save money and focus on preparing its main ODI players for the 2027 World Cup Qualifiers and World Cup.

The Women’s Super50 will be replaced by a Best v Best development tournament next year, while the WI Cricket Championships, West Indies’ four-day First-Class tournament, will retain the same bilateral-series, 12-game format as this year.

“We must also now manage the advent of cricket’s return to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and its debut in next year’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru,” CWI CEO Chris Dehring said in a statement.

“We also need to reshape our domestic season to incorporate new qualification tournaments which will see individual countries like Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, etc., that make up Cricket West Indies, now having the opportunity to bring more gold, silver and bronze glory to the Caribbean.”

“Faced with this reality, we have taken the decision to redirect scarce resources to programmes that are more impactful and cost effective, with longer lasting benefits to West Indies cricket in the medium and long term,” Dehring added.

CWI has also secured a US$16 million loan from the ICC, available in three tranches over the next year, subject to conditions and performance metrics.