A commercial Twenty20 league in the Caribbean is coming. This was revealed by outgoing chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Ernest Hilaire.
Hilaire’s whose term of office comes to an end on Sept. 30, 2012 said he would like to leave having finalized the deal, which was being supported by an unnamed investor.
“We’re in the advanced stages of discussions to have a commercial Twenty20 league in the region and I have been leading the negotiations on that. I would like to complete the whole process before I move one,” Hilaire said in an interview with the Antigua-based Observer Radio.
“We are in discussions with an investor. Once we have an understanding, we can move forward with it,” he said.
Hilaire did not elaborate on the structure of the Twenty20 league and if it would be a mirror image of other popular domestic leagues such as the Indian Premier League (IPL). He did make it clear though that the existing Caribbean Twenty20 will be played next year.
“We will be having the Caribbean Twenty20 in January as scheduled. The board will meet later this month to make some decisions on its structure and how it will be organized,” the WICB CEO added.
He said the WICB directors are scheduled to meet to discuss the governance structure of the board. Hilaire said the board will also discuss the planned Twenty20 league and finalize its structure.
Hilaire said he would be bringing on board both the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association and the West Indies Players Association to discuss issues pertaining to players to make sure there were no hurdles.
