KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) says plans are well on course to professionalise first-class cricket in the region by next season.

WICB president Dave Cameron says the regional first-class competition is being transformed into a “franchise” structure, similar to the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 tournament currently into its second season.
“We are moving towards a structure where we are going to have players from all over the region playing for different teams,” said Cameron, during an interview on the Line and Length programme on the Sportsmax TV Channel.
“Effective August and September we are going to have players from all over the region and potentially from outside the region who will be playing for these franchises and we are still going to call them Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad.”
The move to professionalizs the regional first-class tournament is among recommendations contained in a report by WICB director of cricket Richard Pybus.
In the report, Pybus outlined a structure which would see a player draft being held for regional first-class cricket.
“The draft allows West Indies cricket to level the playing field in resourcing franchise-type teams, affording all the TBs (territorial boards) the opportunity to broaden and deepen their squads,” the report stated.
“We have announced that coming this year with the new professional structure, teams will be able to select the best players from around the region. It is an interesting point, however, that these teams are going to fall directly under the auspices of the territorial boards.”
The territorial boards will be allowed to retain and contract ten players with the rest going into the draft from which teams will select five players to make up their 15-member squads.