Cricket West Indies (CWI) has signed off a wide-ranging reform package designed to arrest the slide in regional standards and reconnect a fractured development system. The plan, drawn up by a committee of former greats and current leaders, puts specialist coaching, a new high-performance hub and stricter oversight of the six professional franchises at the top of the to-do list for the next six months.
Key facts first
• An “internationally proven” batting coach and a full-time sports psychologist will be hired before the end of the year.
• A modern high-performance centre is earmarked for Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
• Franchises must file individual development plans and will be measured against a regional fitness leaderboard.
• A longer-term pathway, unifying schools, age-group academies and the senior set-up, has been approved in principle.
Miles Bascombe, CWI’s director of cricket, stressed the board’s resolve. “Our commitment to cricket development across the region is unwavering,” Miles Bascombe said.
How we got here
The committee was formed in August, days after the men’s side were bundled out for 27 by Australia in Kingston – a low that forced uncomfortable conversations. Legends Clive Lloyd and Brian Lara sat alongside current players Shai Hope and Roston Chase, with Ramnaresh Sarwan offering a selector’s view. Their first task was blunt: list what is going wrong.
The diagnosis
• Declining quality in regional four-day and white-ball tournaments
• Technical, tactical and mental skill gaps
• An underperforming franchise model
• Patchy facilities and few specialist coaches
• Limited ICC revenue and broader financial strain
• Disjointed player pathways from grassroots to international cricket
• Sub-standard fitness and conditioning
Those findings, together with recommended fixes, went before the CWI board on 25 September and were rubber-stamped.
Immediate moves
Within months the men’s squad will have a roving batting mentor, expected to work with every territorial board. The long-promised sports psychologist role is finally becoming full-time, and the women’s team will receive parallel support. Fitness data will be shared across franchises, the high-performance unit and the international sides – a small but overdue step towards the joined-up approach better-funded nations take for granted.
Bigger picture
The committee’s vision stretches well beyond the current cycle. A national cricket development framework aims to pull together primary schools, community clubs, regional academies and the elite programme. Standardised academies for 11- to 18-year-olds should, on paper, reduce the annual scramble for raw pace or wrist-spin. Financially, there is talk of fresh partnerships with governments and private investors, while Lloyd will keep pushing world cricket’s corridors of power for a fairer share of ICC funds.
Lara, never shy of confronting uncomfortable truths, reminded reporters in August that harsh realities are not new. “It’s been that case for years, where we are not in the same level-p,” he said, the sentence breaking mid-thought yet capturing the frustration of a generation.
Analysis without the jargon
Specialist coaching is a sensible starting point. The region has long relied on natural talent, but today’s international game demands bespoke technical work, video analysis and mental-skills training. A batting coach with global credentials could add structure to nets that currently vary wildly from island to island. Equally, bringing psychology out of the shadows acknowledges that modern cricket is as much about decision-making under pressure as it is about driving through the covers.
The franchise shake-up deserves close attention. Since the professional era began in 2014, teams have operated with minimal accountability for player development; results have reflected that. Forcing franchises to meet baseline standards – and publishing a fitness leaderboard – introduces competitive tension that might shift cultures.
Potential pitfalls
Finance remains the elephant in the room. Building a state-of-the-art centre and funding year-round specialist staff will cost considerably more than CWI’s current broadcast deal provides. Success will rely on selling the vision to sponsors and governments already stretched by priorities outside cricket.
There is also the matter of patience. Coaching appointments and new nets provide visible progress, but raising the regional first-class standard, then turning that into consistent Test performances, could take a decade.
Where next?
CWI expects to confirm the batting coach before the Caribbean domestic season starts in January. Ground is scheduled to break on the Coolidge upgrades shortly after. Progress reports will reach the board each quarter, with public updates promised – a welcome nod to transparency that, if honoured, will help supporters measure words against deeds.
For now, stakeholders have a roadmap and, crucially, ownership from figures who once set the global benchmark in maroon. That won’t guarantee a swift return to the glory days, but it does strip away excuses for doing nothing. As West Indies cricket inches into another rebuilding phase, realistic hope feels like a respectable place to start.
