Cricket Board shows healthy profit

THE COFFERS of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board are in a healthy position once again, according to Chief Executive Officer Alloy Lequay. According to the report of the audited accounts for the period ending July 31, Lequay said that over the last year the Board had been able to transform its deficit of $134,502 to a surplus of $165,801. The income of the local Board was $2,765,024, while expenditure was $2,599,233. The biggest slice of the budget went into organising the regional Carib Beer Series tournament where $1,167,555 was expended. He said the major cause of the increased revenues was as a result of increased ticket sales for international matches featuring the visiting England cricketers. This increased from $139,388 to $276,360, and according to Lequay, an England team visit usually produces good attendance at matches.

The Carib 2004 regional series showed a surplus of $109,993 —  an increase of $30,033 over the 2002 season. Marketing and promotion revenue also showed an increase of $116,881 mainly due to two charity dinners. The Board’s assets rose to $7,279,469 from $6,819,651 over the 2002 period. “Activity at our Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre has been beyond our expectations without advertising the facility. We are now having requests from corporate Trinidad and Tobago for family day activities and staff seminars.” Lequay revealed that the Board’s main source of revenue for the Centre was a grant of US $100,000 for the second year from the development budget of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to support the age group development thrust and to compensate for lack of profit-sharing allocation. Lequay said there has been no construction activity over the last year at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva, other than drainage and maintenance.

However, he said if the Centre is allocated World Cup warm-up matches for 2007 and receives a construction grant, there will be activity next year. The Board’s CEO said the momentum will continue in the coming year. To meet the cost of expansion, he believes the Government and the corporate sector sponsorship will be critical until 2007 when World Cup activity should improve the Board’s revenues substantially. Lequay also anticipates that in three years, the WICB will return to profitability and profit-sharing allocation and development grants will become available. Richard de Souza, treasurer of the TTCB, found that the last financial year was encouraging. He feels that satisfactory results from the 2007 World Cup should strengthen the local Board’s financial base significantly and give the local authorities the opportunity to fund an expanded and structural development programme.