WICB reopens bidding for England Tests

The WICB has responded to a backlash over its allocation of Tests for the series against England in April 2015 by holding a fresh bidding process for potential hosts.

WICB had originally decided to allocate the three Tests to Guyana, Grenada and Jamaica. But, after that news was revealed by ESPNcricinfo, the cricket boards and, in some cases politicians, of the Caribbean nations that missed out reacted in dismay and have now provoked a rethink.

This is good and bad.


Bad because thee is no support to uplift infrastructure so you would think Bim and Trinbago are the best candidates along with the Islands.


Good because of competition.


Guyana has never been a tourist destination and would unjustly suffer.


Fixtures should be rotated to assist all.

Barmy Army tell ECB dat no members want to go to South America for cricket. Dem going for football.

Barmy Army love this:

It is not a tourist destinations but I am sure there are other aspect tourists would be interested in if marketed by their tourism people.


The WICB should however be equitable about allocating fixtures.


Most English fans would prefer going elsewhere.

The claim that the WICB have not been equitable in their allocation of test matches is not borne out by the facts.

These days West Indies are playing far fewer test matches and the Caribbean now has 10 test grounds.

Since 2000 the West Indies have played 68 tests at home and 45 (66%) of those tests were played at one of the "traditional" venues.

The breakdown is:
Barbados - 14
Jamaica - 12
Trinidad - 11
Antigua - 10
Guyana - 8
St Kitts - 4
St Lucia - 3
Dominica - 3
Grenada - 2
St Vincent - 1

Boqui,


You need to look at the last 3 to 5 years to see the inequity. Do you have these numbers?

Since 2008 the West Indies have played 27 tests at home and 17 (63%) of those tests were played at one of the "traditional" venues.

The breakdown is:
Barbados - 7
Jamaica - 4
Trinidad - 4
Antigua - 3
Guyana - 2
St Kitts - 2
Dominica - 3
Grenada - 1
St Vincent - 1

The % given to the big 4 is about the same but Guyana only has 2 of the 17 given to the big 4. If I remember correctly Guyana lost at least 1 test because of the GCB/Government dispute.

Ok so the way I see it is that almost 50% of games have been played to less than 15% of the regions population.

Wasn't there an entire series played in the islands?

Are you saying St. Lucia has not has a single test in the last 5 years?

Thanks for this.

First it is not 50% of the games. Guyana lost games because of the dispute between the GCB and the government. Otherwise the % would be just over 66% , a far cry from 50%.

St Lucia has not had a test in 5 years. The last test there was in 2006. If you follow the cricket politics in the Caribbean that should not come as a surprise.

I refuse to call 2 tests a series. When Bangladesh visited in 2009 and played two tests one was in St Vincent and the other in Grenada.

If tests were allocated according to population then of the 27 tests in the last 5 years Jamaica would have got 13, Trinidad 6, and Guyana 4.

Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent, St Kitts, Dominica and Antigua would be left to fight over the 4 remaining tests.