"World cricket doing everything to make sure West Indies are never strong again" - Cricket West Indies CEO
Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive officer Jonny Grave has accused the International Cricket Council (ICC) and major cricketing nations of making sure that West Indies cricket remains weak.
The fall of West Indies cricket has been a hot topic since the men's team's failure to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. Although the Caribbean side recently recorded a famous Test win in Gabba, their cricketing landscape isn't in the best of states.
"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. 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," Grave told Daniel Gallan in a podcast, as quoted by India Today.
The Windies' problems have been both internal and external. The International Cricket Council's revenue model is lopsided towards the 'Big Three' - India, Australia and England - while there have been accusations of corruption levelled against the board.
Star players' availability has always been uncertain due to them finding more security in lucrative contracts in franchise cricket, creating a cycle of troubles.
"Our percetage of revenue has down" - Cricket West Indies CEO
Grave also criticised the ICC for promoting how they have increased the revenue for the mid-ranking teams even as their share has gone down.
"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," Grave added.
The BCCI's revenue share increased from around 23% to over 30%. Ireland and Afghanistan were the only other full-members to see a fraction of icrement. The Associate Nations, as a whole, saw a very marginal increase.