The much anticipated franchise system for regional First Class cricket is to come on stream, with teams being allowed to pick players who are put into the draft from their own countries.
This according to chief executive officer (CEO) of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Suruj Ragoonath. The former West Indies opener spoke to the T&T Guardian after attending a WICB CEOs conference at the Acca Beach Hotel in Christchurch, Barbados.
Each country will be allowed to retain their top ten players while another 15 players from each country will be put into a draft, which means that there will be 90 players available for teams to choose five to add to their squad. Ragoonath said countries will be allowed to select five of the players whom they put into the draft. "This means you can have all 15 men from the same country playing together."
He noted that during the Caribbean Premier League Jamaica went for their own players and men from outside the Caribbean. "I think that definitely Barbados and Jamaica would go for their own players and it may also happen to us here in Trinidad, or for the most you might see one player coming from outside."
Players would be paid at the lowest US $1,400 per match and will also be retained for the year at a lowest price of US$1,500. Ragoonath said that he will soon be meeting with the local stakeholders and players from this country to sign their contacts. "Those players who are centrally retained by the WICB, will not be offered contracts by the local boards and those other players, who wish to continue with their private employment would be given "pay for play" contracts."
Ragoonath also reported on the meeting conducted by WICB CEO Micheal Muirhead which he said went well. "We have a very good meeting, it was necessary to have everyone on board, as we transition to this new era in West Indies cricket. We were able to achieve a lot and while the major focus was on the MOU signed between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), we were able to discuss ideas as we move into this exciting period in our cricket.
"This can only be good for our cricket because imagine that you could have a situation where 25 players from this country, can be contracted to play cricket for the same season. This would only help in developing our players and cricket as a whole."
Ragoonath added that the pace at which the board is moving into this new position could be faster. "Things are moving along slowly and with guys needing to have their contracts signed off my next month, there is still a lot to do by the WICB.
"We at the TTCB have been doing our part in terms of being ready, as we knew before hand that cricket would start in November and we have been preparing for this."