By Neto Baptiste
The 2024 edition of the popular Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion has been cancelled following failed negotiations between clubs and the organisers over the introduction of a payment system for players.
This was confirmed by chief organiser, Dario Barthley, who said a decision was made late Monday to cancel the tournament, as the amounts requested by the clubs exceed what is available through sponsorship and other areas.
“The only two caveats I gave to that was, one — we would not be paying players directly because it was not a professional tournament and we don’t want to get into a contractual relationship with any particular player. The other thing was that, this is the budget, this is the amount of money we have available to us based on the sponsorship we think we can bring in with some of it not even confirmed, but this is where we were willing to make a commitment,” he said.
“When the proposal came in, it had particular payments for particular players which I asked them specifically not to do because that’s not how we want to go about it. We will give the monies to the clubs and if the clubs choose to use the money to pay players, then so be it. Their proposal amounted to a minimum of $90,000 when we are playing with $50,000,” he added.
Clubs had initially asked for EC$12,000 each which they would distribute to players as payment throughout the tournament. However, organisers informed the clubs that based on sponsorship, they could only afford to give each club EC$4,000. The clubs then returned with a proposal requesting EC$8,000 each.
Barthley, who apologised to the clubs after being accused of “talking down” to representatives of the teams during a recent meeting, said the owner of the tournament and prominent businessman, Amer Hourani of Cool & Smooth, opted not to meet with the clubs following a request after negotiations broke down.
“Amer told me in no uncertain terms that if he meets with them he would have to bring all of the information back to me to make a decision, so he thinks we should sort it out between us. They said that I said it’s my money and, yes, I did say it was my money because when I came into Cool & Smooth T20, Amer was spending $200,000 per year on this tournament and now we are at a point where we can find the money through sponsorship to almost make the money. We are still losing but not nearly anywhere close to $200,000,” the organiser said.
President of the Wayne Electrical Services (WES) Rising Sun Spartans, Wayne Hewlett, said earlier that the teams would seek a meeting with Hourani.
“He automatically, right away, just shut it down saying they are not paying, they have one budget and they don’t intend to move. So we asked him for an audience with Amer who would be the leading person in the Hourani family that runs Cool & Smooth that has much say in the T20 tournament because I know George is here right now. We also want the Hourani family to know that this is no shots fired at them in no form or fashion because Dario told us that it is his tournament and it is his money,” he said.
Meanwhile, President of the Jennings Tigers Cricket Club Glen Miller said the decision might be hard for the players but the clubs have a responsibility to ensure the arrangement is fair for all involved.
“Players will always want to play but when you have representatives, you have a club to run and also looking out for the interest of those some players it’s different. I spoke to my players and my guys said to me to go forward and that was the consensus. Our players make this tournament what it is today. I’ve had people call me from Australia, Los Angeles, New York who are watching this tournament so the tournament is getting bigger, but what is the benefits for the players?” he said.
Empire Nation won the 2023 edition of the tournament, beating the Liberta Blackhawks in the final played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to claim the EC$23,000 cash prize.
This year’s tournament was slated to bowl off on July 3 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
