Cricket needs a strong West Indies team, says Mani

“I am more concerned about the health of the game today than I have ever been. When I look around, five of the ten full countries are in desperate need of help. They are faced with two main challenges: one, not enough money; two, not enough quality cricket.”

Mani was referring to Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and he expressed particular concern about the West Indian game.

“It is desperately sad to see that some of the West Indian players prefer to play in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and other T20 leagues around the world rather than for West Indies,” he said.

“This is simply because of money. This problem must be addressed. It is the responsibility of the ICC to ensure that the priority for players should be to play for their country before anything else.

“Cricket needs a strong West Indies team. Its first-class players need to be paid well to keep them in the game. They will require $30 million to $50 million more over the next eight years than what they will receive from the ICC and from the sale of their commercial rights.”