The future competitiveness of West Indies cricket hangs in the balance without fundamental reform to international cricket’s outdated revenue-sharing structure, Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive Chris Dehring has warned. In a recent interview on Wisden’s popular *The Scoop* podcast, Dehring doubled down on his longstanding criticism of the current system, arguing it systematically disadvantages smaller cricketing nations like the West Indies by locking them out of critical earnings from high-profile tours.
Dehring pointed to the West Indies’ recently concluded five-match T20I series against India as a stark example of the inequity built into the existing framework. Despite a thrilling, record-breaking high-scoring series that ended in a 2-2 draw after rain washed out the deciding final match in Bengaluru, the CWI earned zero revenue from the tour. Industry estimates value the series’ total generated revenue between $20 million and $30 million, all of which is retained by the host nation under current International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, with no legal requirement to share earnings with the touring side.
The root of this imbalance, Dehring explained, traces back to a 1997 ICC vote that overhauled the global cricket financial model. Prior to that change, host nations paid a set touring fee to visiting teams, a system that heavily benefited the West Indies: earnings from touring major markets like Australia, India, and England consistently outstripped the revenue the board could generate from hosting matches at home across the Caribbean’s small individual domestic markets. When the 1997 vote shifted the model to let hosts keep all revenue from domestic television rights, the West Indies was outvoted 9-1, stripping it of its primary income stream overnight.
“From that moment, and I said it then, when that vote was taken, that you’ve just signed the demise of West Indies cricket because you’ve taken away our main earning source,” Dehring said. He questioned the logic of the current system, noting that the global audience for elite matches between top teams does not shift based on where the fixture is hosted. “When we play India in a Test match or one-day international, the audience is virtually the same. So why aren’t the revenues the same, whether or not it’s played in India or in the West Indies?” he asked.
Dehring’s proposed solution would turn all bilateral matches under the ICC Future Tours Programme into a collective global broadcasting product, rather than individual national assets. The entire portfolio of matches would be sold as a single package to international broadcasters, with revenue distributed equitably among all participating members based on their contribution to the product.
Beyond the core bilateral revenue issue, Dehring also called out the ICC’s broader revenue distribution model for failing to account for the unique logistical costs of hosting international matches across the Caribbean’s scattered island chain. Unlike major cricketing nations such as England, where the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) can move personnel, match equipment, and broadcast gear between venues via road or rail, CWI must charter private aircraft to transport everything between islands. That extra cost adds up: Dehring estimates a single cross-territory movement for a series costs between $250,000 and $300,000, a major additional expense that large, landmass-based boards never face. These uncompensated costs must be factored into how ICC funds are allocated to member boards, he argued.
Even as Dehring pushes the ICC to enact systemic change, he made clear that CWI is not waiting for global reforms to take action to strengthen West Indies cricket. The board is currently rolling out new technology-focused infrastructure projects designed to give young Caribbean cricketers earlier access to high-quality training and development resources, with the goal of producing players fully prepared for the demands of elite international cricket by the time they reach the first-class level.
Dehring also highlighted the importance of securing government investment and growing domestic interest in the sport, pointing to upcoming Olympic qualification invitational tournaments as a key opportunity to drive national support for cricket across the region. Drawing a parallel to St Lucia’s reigning Olympic women’s 100m champion Julien Alfred, Dehring expressed unwavering confidence in the depth of untapped athletic talent across the Caribbean.
“There are thousands of Julien Alfreds spread out across the Caribbean,” he said. “We need to harness that athletic quotient, give all youngsters the opportunity because cricket is growing leaps and bounds, and this is just another viable way for the Caribbean to demonstrate to the world that we are as good as anybody.”