Players to take pay cut, competitions suspended, domestic contracts shortened: Inside CWI's financial crisis

The board has announced a 25 per cent pay cut for its international players, but clarified they will continue to remain on 12-month retainers. Domestic players, however, will have the duration of their retainer contracts cut down to seven months. CWI have also suspended this year's editions of the men's Super50 tournament and the women's T20 Blaze.

Terming the steps as “a comprehensive counterattack against all the challenges we face financially, developmentally and competitively”, CWI chief executive Chris Dehring explained the decision in a statement to the board's stakeholders.

“We appreciate the spirit of cooperation of the West Indies Players Association and the players who have demonstrated their total understanding of the circumstances we all face, he said. “While not ideal, it is a necessary step towards financial stability.

Dehring also confirmed the suspension of the two domestic tournaments, citing operational costs involved in organizing the tournaments. “Our domestic tournaments as structured historically,” he added, “where 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.

“The high cost of domestic travel and accommodation absorbs too much of our scarce resources every year instead of being deployed for the direct benefit of our cricket. Indeed, over eighty million US dollars has been spent by Cricket West Indies with domestic airlines over the past 15 years, without a reciprocating dollar of sponsorship from those beneficiaries. We must also deal with the immediate cash crunch brought about by years of bearing this burden and the crippling financial losses that emanate as a result.”

West Indies players face pay cuts and shorter contracts amid CWI financial struggles 🌴#Cricket pic.twitter.com/OozCdKvvep

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 25, 2026

The two suspended tournaments will now be replaed by men's and women's qualification tournaments for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. These invitational events will feature the 10 Caribbean countries under Cricket West Indies, with individual national cricket boards covering participation costs. Exact dates for the tournaments are yet to be announced.

“These replacement tournaments will be by invitation to the 10 countries under the aegis of Cricket West Indies that qualify for Olympic participation,” Dehring further added. “We are excited by these new invitational tournaments, the dates for which are being finalized, as given the higher stakes and prestige, it's an opportunity for individual countries to galvanize national resources to chase Olympic glory, with the responsibility and cost of participation falling on their respective national cricket & Olympic associations, private sectors, governments and people, hopefully fulfilling a desire to make a meaningful contribution to their national team's hunt for Olympic Glory. The winners of those tournaments will qualify for the Olympic Qualifying tournaments for a spot in Los Angeles in 2028.”

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