By Neto Baptiste
Head of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB), Enoch Lewis, has hinted that the ongoing financial hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic could force the board to cut player contracts if it continues much longer.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Lewis said the body is however hoping it does not come to that, while hoping the players remain enthusiastic despite the lack of competitive cricket.
“I can’t speak to how long we will be able to continue to do it. We may have to go to a voluntary basis at some point in time and just hope the guys keep the interest because they have personal careers they are trying to advance. So, we would encourage them to do that as the governing body to ensure that if cricket does return in relatively short order or before the end of the year that we are in a position to hit the ground running,” he said.
Lewis, who is also a director on the Cricket West Indies (CWI) board, also said that this year’s planned staging of the Super 50 tournament is heavily in doubt.
“The last thing I heard is that it looks unlikely that it would happen because of where we are and as you may know, there are certain islands that there borders are still closed. I know there have been discussions that we might be able to play the four-day tournament in one island and the Super 50 in another island, but those are just early discussions. As it is right now, it just doesn’t look that way. I can’t speak for next week or the other week, but as I speak with you it doesn’t seem as if that Super 50 is going to happen,” he said.
The Super 50 tournament was slated to bowl off in November this year.