Carib Beer Series face cut

Daily Nation investigations revealed a proposal had been put forward to scrap the entire first half of the regional first-class competition that included five series of matches between November 11 and December 12.

If the proposal is accepted, the tournament is likely to start November 25 and be reduced from ten rounds of preliminary matches to five, leading to semi-finals and the final.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive officer Roger Brathwaite said yesterday the board was looking at the tournament, but shed no details on the possibility of a shorter competition.

When contacted on Saturday, WICB chief cricket operations officer Zorol Barthley said the tournament was still set to start on November 11, but well-placed sources close to the WICB revealed there was likely to be a two-week delay.

The WICB announced on August 11 the competition would begin on November 11, but while draft fixtures were obtained by the Daily Nation two weeks ago, the lack of a confirmed schedule from regional officials heightened concern about an imminent start.

It was uncertain why the tournament would be cut in half, but sources pointed to a lack of funding as one of the possible reasons.

Over the past two weeks, teams have been intensifying preparations with either trial/practice matches or training camps.

Last season was only the second time the competition featured home-and-away matches involving the six traditional teams — Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands. If the first round of the tournament is eliminated, it would be the second successive year the WICB reduced the duration of one of its competitions.

The unsponsored President’s Trophy, the region’s limited-overs tournament, was reduced by 15 matches after Grenada, hosts of one leg of the preliminaries, were devastated by Hurricane Ivan.