Photo Credit: Facebook Photo of Dr. Kishore Shallow
Cricket West Indies President Dr. Kishore Shallow has addressed comments made by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves regarding St. Vincent not being included as a host venue for the 2025 Australia tour of the Caribbean. Gonsalves highlighted that despite assurances or indications from Cricket West Indies, the state was not allocated any matches.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Gonsalves stated that reasonable individuals might argue that a Cricket West Indies president should avoid active political involvement within any of the territories or participation in elections. However, he clarified that he did not wish to suggest in any way that there was any perfidy involved.
Dr. Shallow’s response to these remarks comes amid discussions on venue selection for the upcoming tour, as stakeholders continue to evaluate the considerations that influenced the final decisions.
Official Statement by Cricket West Indies President, Dr. Kishore Shallow:
“Cricket West Indies venue selection is guided by three main criteria: cost efficiency, commercial potential, and cricket strategy, with best efforts made to ensure that both international and regional cricket are spread across as many territories as possible.
In the case of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) hosting Australia in 2025, securing affordable accommodation with sufficient services, as well as playing conditions were not favorable. These matches will be played in St. Kitts, which has multiple options for the prerequisite accommodation and hosting.
Notwithstanding, there are three other hosting opportunities given to SVG this year, (1) hosting of two first class matches, (2) hosting the West Indies Women’s Blaze, and (3) South Africa Men’s A team tour of West Indies, which includes two test matches and three 50 overs matches. The latter was rejected based on the unavailability of Arnos Vale playing field.
Vincentians can however look forward to hosting international cricket next year July, with West Indies playing New Zealand Men in three T20Is. Arnos Vale will also host West Indies women vs England women in three T20Is in May 2027. Additionally, SVG will host Women’s Super 50 in 2026 and 2027. These fixtures have been confirmed with the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
