Twenty20 is a big hit in the West Indies. In the Caribbean Premier League, stadiums have parties at night and, unlike Test cricket, the stands are packed. But to boost attendance, local schoolchildren are bused in to watch morning and afternoon weekday games for free. There’s nothing wrong with this. The irony is that it’s the broadcasters who are setting the schedule and creating the problem, who want fans to sit in their seats and don’t care if they’re paying. There’s nothing more unsightly than bucket seats lined with empty seats. “The only place you can get big crowds in the morning for a weekday game is probably the UK,” says Grave. “But in the Caribbean, if you get a few thousand schoolchildren and a few thousand fans, you can create a better atmosphere than most places in the world. Again, if you can get 30,000 kids for free for the whole tournament and turn them into cricket fans, that’s great for our tradition.”
The main thing is that Indian broadcasters are happy. That’s the result of Disney Star paying $3.2 billion for a four-year deal to broadcast ICC events. “You have to accept that if you’re going to have a T20 World Cup and 90% of the revenue is going to come from India, it has to be India-friendly,” Greive adds. “You have to acknowledge and accept that it’s not just biased, it’s a fact of the market. India brings in $3 billion in broadcast rights fees and together they bring in the rest, about $200 million. But if we had a choice to have a men’s World Cup and have half the matches at 10:30 a.m. and the other half at night or not have it at all, we would choose that.”
“Across the region, we expect an economic boost of about $300 million. If the World Cup goes well, it will boost our coffers by $25 million and prepare us for a financially tough year. At least we are prepared for that now. Previously, we bailed out with tours to England and India, then we’d get back on our feet and struggle. Now we will be that far ahead by the end of this year. The next two years will stretch our resources but allow us to continue to make all the investments we need into our cricket system. Hopefully India will return in 2027 and we’ll be back on our feet again.”
The excitement will be high when the cricket begins. West Indies are favourites to win and a good performance from the hosts will certainly give them an advantage. They are ranked fourth in the world T20 rankings and had comprehensive wins over England and South Africa last year.