West Indies players are set for a 25% reduction in their retainer fees after Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a financial restructuring plan. International players will continue to receive 12-month contracts, while domestic players will now have seven-month retainer contracts. CWI described the changes as “a comprehensive counterattack against all the challenges we face financially, developmentally and competitively”. The move comes as the board manages financial pressures.
The decision could push more West Indies players towards T20 franchise cricket. West Indies has already been at the forefront of the trend of players turning away from central contracts to work as T20 franchise freelancers. CWI chief executive Chris Dehring said the players and West Indies Players’ Association had cooperated with the changes. “While not ideal, it is a necessary step towards financial stability,” Dehring said.
CWI has also suspended this year’s men’s Super50 tournament and women’s T20 Blaze. The board said the main reason was the high cost of running domestic competitions in the Caribbean. Under the previous structure, CWI covered salaries, match fees, airfares, hotels and event staging costs for age-group, development and senior teams in both men’s and women’s cricket. Dehring said this model was no longer sustainable.
“Our domestic tournaments as structured historically, where Cricket West Indies bears the entire cost of every national team and tournament – whether it is age-group, development or senior for both men and women – including salaries, match fees, airfares, hotels and event staging costs, are simply unsustainable,” Dehring said. He added that more than eighty million US dollars had been spent on domestic airlines over the past 15 years, without a dollar of sponsorship from those beneficiaries. CWI must also manage cash-flow pressure from these costs.
Another financial challenge is linked to an ICC loan. In July, the ICC approved a US$16 million loan facility for CWI to provide temporary relief for its chronic cashflow challenge. The money will be available in three tranches over the next year, with conditions. CWI must meet critical metrics to access those funds, starting this month.
The suspension of the Super50 removes an important stage in its pathway to the men’s ODI team. West Indies missed qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup and will enter a qualifier for next year’s tournament in February-March 2027. CWI plans to prepare ODI players through white-ball matches against a visiting England A team in November, followed by an ODI team camp.
The changes come before two events. West Indies is a composite team made up of independent nation-states, and countries will send teams to the Pan American Games in Lima and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The top four finishers from the 2025-26 Super50 were named qualifiers for the men’s Pan American Games event, and the top four from the 2025-26 T20 Blaze will take part in the women’s event.
In place of the suspended Super50 and T20 Blaze, CWI will hold qualification tournaments for the men’s and women’s 2028 LA Olympics. The individual cricket boards will cover the costs. “These replacement tournaments will be by invitation to the 10 countries under the aegis of Cricket West Indies that qualify for Olympic participation,” Dehring said. The winners will move to the ICC Olympic Qualifying tournaments for a place at Los Angeles 2028.
Next year’s Women’s Super50 will be replaced by a Best vs Best development tournament. The West Indies Championship, the four-day domestic tournament, will continue with the bilateral-series, 12-game format from 2025-26. Each team played one bilateral series of three games with one opponent, while the top three teams on the composite table qualified for the playoffs.
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