West Indies Cricket CEO Chris Dehring has criticised the financial structure underpinning international cricket, arguing that the current revenue-sharing model puts the Caribbean team at a significant disadvantage when it plays against India. He believes the system disproportionately benefits countries with large domestic markets while leaving smaller cricket boards struggling to generate sufficient income.
Speaking on Wisden Cricket’s Inside Scoop, Dehring highlighted the commercial value of an India series and questioned why West Indies Cricket receives no share of the revenue generated from matches played in India. “That is one of the great anomalies of world cricket where we play against India, no matter where that match is played – in this case it’s being played in India – and the West Indies cricket gets nothing. When a match that probably has a value and revenue generation capacity of probably 20-30 million dollars (for a series) in India and we are getting nothing,” Dehring said.
The West Indies chief executive traced the origins of the issue to 1997, when member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) voted to change the financial model governing international cricket. According to Dehring, the earlier system provided the Caribbean side with touring fees and revenue opportunities that helped sustain its cricket operations.
ALSO READ: Aakash Chopra Questions DC’s Trade Move Ahead Of IPL 2027, Says LSG and SRH Benefited
He explained that West Indies were once among the most sought-after teams in international cricket, with their overseas tours generating substantial income. The money earned from visits to countries such as Australia, India and England was particularly important because it often exceeded what the board could earn by hosting international series at home.
“And you have to go back to 1997 (to trace its origins). I was fortunate, or unfortunate, to be around this vote was taken by at the ICC by the member countries voted to change the financial model that underpinned world cricket. Uptill then, West Indies was a very attractive team, and everybody wanted us to tour. We would be paid a touring fee and essentially that was more than what we could make in the Caribbean hosting series. We would make all revenues from the international tours that we would take – Australia, India and England- and that helped to sustain the West Indies cricket,” Dehring said.
West Indies Cricket Gets “Nothing” From India Tour: CEO Chris Dehring Criticises 1997 Funding Shift
Read More: [https://t.co/xr8J3hDiKu]
#WestIndies #TeamIndia #Cricket #CWI #ICC
— Pragativadi (@PragativadiNews) October 16, 2026
Dehring argued that the financial structure changed as cricket boards recognised the growing value of television broadcasting rights. Instead of sharing domestic broadcasting revenue with visiting teams, countries increasingly chose to retain the income generated within their own markets.
“All the countries recognised where TV rights were going. And they decided we don’t want to pay anybody our domestic TV rights. We will keep all to ourselves and that’s fine,” he said.
ALSO READ: Tim Southee Backs Mohammed Siraj To Shine In India vs New Zealand Series
He believes this arrangement has created a substantial imbalance between India, which has an enormous potential audience, and the smaller Caribbean territories. While the Indian market can generate significant broadcasting and commercial income, individual islands such as Antigua and St Kitts have much smaller populations. “India gets to keep revenues based on a billion and a half people, while West Indies gets to keep all the revenues generate in Antigua – it has 100,000 people or St
