Ernest Hilaire, the outgoing chief executive of the West Indies Cricket
Board (WICB), has revealed that a "commercial Twenty20" league in the
Caribbean is in the works. Hilaire's term comes to an end
on September 30, but he said he would like to leave having finalised
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. We're very close to completing the negotiations. I would like
to complete that whole process before I move on," 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."
Hilaire did not elaborate on the exact structure of the Twenty20 league
and if it would be a mirror image of other popular domestic leagues like
the 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 next week and make
some decisions on its structure and how it will be organised."
On September 14, the WICB directors are scheduled to meet to discuss the
governance structure of the board. Hilaire said the board would also
discuss the planned T20 league and finalise its structure. He would be
bringing on board both the Federation of International Cricketers'
Associations (FICA) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) to
discuss issues pertaining to players, he said, to make sure there were
no hurdles. "We will need to speak to WIPA and FICA, and other
stakeholders, to make sure everybody is on board."
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