PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, will later this month chair a conference on West Indies cricket, which is aimed at securing the commitment of major stakeholders to advancing the game at all levels.

Entitled “Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket – A Symposium for Strategic Collaboration and Innovation”, the conference will be jointly hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago government and regional nations grouping, CARICOM, and will engage topics such as the strategic direction of West Indies cricket, the development of cricket and cricket and tourism.

Dr Rowley is the current chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket and has been one of the main proponents of governance reform in Cricket West Indies.

“The conference aims to foster a collaborative environment to secure the commitment of CARICOM Governments, Cricket West Indies (CWI) and territorial boards to strategically advance the sport in all its formats: Tests, One Day Internationals and T20s,” a media release said Tuesday.

Discussions during the conference will also surround “the business trajectory of the sport and emphasise collaborative efforts toward cricket development and promotion.”
The conference, which runs from April 25-26 at the Hyatt Regency, is expected to be attended by “all relevant agencies, organisations, cricketing legends, former and current players, clubs, coaches and administrators.”

Hosting the event was one of the decisions arising from the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM held in Guyana last February.

With West Indies struggling on the field to recapture their success of the past and CWI also facing questions surrounding its governance, CARICOM has increasingly weighed in on the direction of the game in the region as one of the major stakeholders.

Already, new CWI president, Dr Kishore Shallow, who last year replaced Ricky Skerritt in the top post, has pledged his commitment to working closely with regional governments to develop the game and returning it to success.

The conference comes six weeks before the region plays host to the ninth T20 World Cup, which will be played across six Caribbean territories from June 1-29.
For the first time, United States will co-host the tournament with West Indies.