Cricket · Caribbean

ICC approves US$12.82 million loan for Cricket West Indies

The Edinburgh decision hands the cash-strapped regional board a lifeline after a heavy annual loss. It is welcome relief, but a short-term fix for a deeper problem that reaches every territory, St. Vincent included.

By Vincypowa News Staff · 16 July 2026

The International Cricket Council has approved a loan of US$12.82 million to Cricket West Indies, stepping in once again to steady the finances of a board that runs the game across the Caribbean. The decision was taken at the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh this week, and comes as Cricket West Indies stares down another year in the red.

The figures behind the loan tell the story. Cricket West Indies reported a net loss of roughly US$28 million for the financial year that ended in September 2025, a sharp reversal from a net profit of about US$24 million the year before. The board expects the pressure to continue, forecasting a further loss of around US$26 million in 2026 before a projected return to modest profit of about US$8 million in 2027.

Cricket West Indies has blamed the swings on the cyclical nature of international cricket, where earnings rise and fall with the commercial value of incoming tours, broadcast deals and the shape of the global calendar. Its own accounts had already flagged loan financing from the ICC and credit lines from commercial banks as key sources of short-term funding, an admission of just how tight the cash position has become.

A plan, and a prized asset

Alongside the borrowing, the board says it intends to cut costs, restructure operations, tighten cash-flow management and diversify its income. It has also pointed to the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, which it owns outright, as an asset that could be leveraged to raise longer-term capital. Whether those measures arrive quickly enough to change the trajectory is the open question.

This is not the first rescue. West Indies cricket received ICC-supported funding back in 2012, and during the pandemic in 2020 the board took a US$3 million loan from the England and Wales Cricket Board, which it later repaid in full. Former West Indies players have for years warned publicly about the board’s finances, and this latest intervention will do little to quiet those concerns.

Why it matters to St. Vincent

For Vincentian cricket lovers, this is not a distant boardroom affair. Cricket West Indies sits at the top of a structure that runs down through the territorial boards to the Windward Islands set-up, of which St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a part, and which has long fed players into the regional and West Indies teams. When the regional body is under financial strain, the pressure is felt in the money available for tournaments, development programmes and pathways for young players across the islands. A healthy West Indies balance sheet is, in a real sense, a local concern.

The Edinburgh meeting was a busy one beyond the Caribbean. The ICC also set up a new governance review committee and a franchise leagues committee, approved format changes for the upcoming men’s ODI and T20 World Cups, admitted Mauritius as a new member, and laid out conditions for lifting the suspension of Cricket Canada. But for the West Indies, the headline was the lifeline, and the reminder that it comes with a bill attached.

Filed under: Sports, Caribbean · Tags: Cricket West Indies, ICC, West Indies cricket, cricket finance, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Windward Islands, SVG cricket, Edinburgh