In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Cricket, Roger Seymour reviews the first two Test matches of the series.
Cable and Wireless Sponsorship
Prior to the start of the Pakistan tour, the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICBC) announced that Cable and Wireless (C&W), the international telecommunications company, which had been serving the Caribbean for over a century, would be sponsoring Test cricket in the region for the next four years to the tune of US$1 million, with annual injections of US$250,000 to be applied to tour expenses and prize money. The latter remunerations for the 1988 C&W Test series were: US$5,000 to the team winning the series; US$1,000 to the team winning each Test match; US$1,000 to the Man of the Series; US$250 to the Man of the Match for each Test.
“Test cricket is an expensive sport in the Caribbean, as both the visiting and home teams need to travel from island to island, usually by air, which clearly makes the cost of a Caribbean tour escalate,” Allan Rae, WICBC President (November 1981 – May 1988) observed. “The away tours and sponsorship keep West Indian cricket going. Without commercial backing Test cricket in the Caribbean would be in jeopardy.”