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Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr Kishore Shallow used the platform of Saturday’s Trinidad T20 Festival final at Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain, to deliver a frank appraisal of the regional body’s immediate challenges and an ambitious outlook for the months ahead.
Presenting the tournament winners and accepting thanks for his service to West Indies cricket, Shallow outlined how CWI plans to navigate chronic financial pressures while staging a packed home schedule that includes Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
“Things are positive,” Dr. Shallow told Guardian Media Sports. He singled out the recent First-Class competition for its encouraging signs–a renewed contest between bat and ball and the emergence of consistent performers such as T&T’s Joshua Da Silva, who led the domestic charts.
But optimism, the president warned, must be tempered with realism. CWI is working under significant budgetary constraints, and that reality has forced the board and management to be innovative in format design and event planning.
“Government will come and government will go,” he said. “We have to build something that is sustainable and our revenue streams have to be multi-dimensional–not just asking for sponsorship.”
Yet he stressed the board will continue to pursue corporate partners vigorously. The financial tightrope is particularly visible when hosting incoming tours. Matches against top cricketing nations such as India, England, or Australia can be lucrative, but series against other touring teams often present the challenge of merely breaking even.
“We aim to at least break even,” Shallow said, noting the need to balance fiscal prudence with the obligation to present top-class international cricket to regional fans.
Despite constraints, the cricket calendar ahead is compelling. The home season begins in Jamaica with Sri Lanka and will be followed by New Zealand and Pakistan fixtures, some of which will be staged in T&T.
“We are looking forward to it,” Shallow said. Preparations are already underway, with a training camp scheduled in Antigua ahead of the Jamaica series.
He added, “Players are ready. Management is working hard to ensure we deliver.”
Venue options and logistics have taken on greater importance in the new environment. Shallow praised Coolidge and the Viv Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua as valuable hubs that, together, provide practice and match facilities capable of hosting multiple formats. He also confirmed ongoing talks with the governments of Guyana and Barbados to split the New Zealand series across venues–a solution his administration is pursuing to both share international cricket more widely and manage costs.
“It is looking quite favourable,” he said, commending the Guyanese and Barbadian governments for stepping forward.
Originally, Barbados was not assigned any international cricket in 2026, but talks between the Barbados and Guyana governments are looking at shifting some matches to Barbados from the South American mainland.
On the international front, balancing formats will be a priority as CWI looks toward the ODI World Cup and the biennial T20 World Cup cycle. Shallow said discussions with head coach Daren Sammy and the board have emphasised long-term planning–player workload management, selection windows, and a strategic blend of ODIs and T20s.
“There will be some focus on the 50-over tournament,” he said, but added the region must also maintain a healthy T20 schedule given its global calendar.
Support for the technical team and coaches is a consistent theme. Shallow offered full backing for head coach Sammy, as well as the CEO and staff at the Antigua secretariat, framed as a collective effort to restore West Indies cricket to consistent success.
“For CWI to do well, it takes all of us on board,” he said. The president defined his role as a unifier–bringing together governments, players, administrators, and commercial partners to execute a shared vision.
Shallow also responded to questions about venue rotation and the potential revival of historic grounds for internationals, noting that logistical complexity and production costs make sweeping changes difficult without government or private sector support. Nevertheless, he insisted CWI remains open to creative solutions, including split series, that can ensure broader access to international fixtures.
As he concluded his remarks at the Oval–where local cricket celebrated another successful Festival finale–Shallow struck an upbeat tone.
“We are working to see how we can be innovative and make things happen,” he said.
With a busy home season looming and plans afoot to diversify revenue streams and broaden the domestic-to-international pathway, the CWI president painted a picture of an organisation adapting to constraints while intent on delivering cricket of the highest standard across the Caribbean.
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