"IPL has been very good to West Indies" - Ex-CWI President Dave Cameron
Former Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dave Cameron stated that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been very supportive of Caribbean cricket's governing body in terms of monetary aspects. He spoke about how the IPL was the first cricket league in the world to pay the overseas boards to release their players.
In a live chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook Page, Dave Cameron spoke extensively about former ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar and how his presence at the top helped the IPL become the grandest league in the cricket world.
Dave Cameron feels IPL's player release fees have helped the other cricket boards
Dave Cameron also discussed Shashank Manohar's tenure as the ICC Chairman, with the latter having served as the Chairman for four years before his tenure ended on June 30, 2020. He vacated the position recently, and the international cricket governing body will soon conduct elections to pick a new person in his place.
Cameron, who is in the race to become the next ICC Chairman, lauded Shashank Manohar but seemed unsure of the decision behind extending the latter's term at the helm.
"Well, I am not so sure what the discussion was. I wasn't a part of the discussions until I saw that he had left, and when I spoke to him, he said, 'Well, my tenure came to an end on June 30th'," Cameron said.
Cameron then stated that if the board members wanted him back, they would reach out to him while further adding that Manohar's working technique was simple, and he was always available for a discussion.
Manohar is only remembered for his instrumental role in the rise of IPL. Notably, the other cricket boards wished to have a T20 league of their own, but Manohar apparently told them to support BCCI's IPL.
"We thoroughly support the IPL, and IPL has been very good to us," Cameron said.
He then spoke about IPL's release fee rule, which grants every cricket board 20% of their player's fees to release them and ensure their availability for the entire season.
"IPL was the first one that agreed to give release fees. In the first instance, we received 10%, and then in the last two years, we re-negotiated it, and we are now getting 20%, and that goes for all boards around the world because simply during that time in IPL, none of the other boards play any cricket," he added.
Dave Cameron concluded by stating that none of the other boards, except Pakistan and Bangladesh, agreed to pay release fees to Cricket West Indies to allow their cricketers to play in the T20 leagues. In his words, they 'flatly rejected' CWI's proposal.