West Indies remain hopeful of hosting England in a Women’s Test next year, but Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Chris Dehring has said the landmark fixture would be a certainty if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) helped fund it. The match would be West Indies’ first women’s Test since 2004 and forms part of a multi-format tour due to be played in April and May 2027, which also includes three T20Is and three one-day internationals. The question of who pays has become pressing because CWI has recently revealed significant financial pressures.
Why hosting in the Caribbean is so costly
Cricket tours often involve reciprocal arrangements between boards over costs, and these usually mean the home board picks up the visitors’ logistical expenses, including travel and accommodation. Dehring told BBC Sport: “We would welcome any assistance of our much wealthier member boards.”
In the West Indies, those expenses can be inflated by the need to fly players and officials between islands. Dehring continued: “It is very expensive to host cricket in Caribbean.”
Television production adds to the burden, and CWI is also hurt by that cost. Dehring said: “We have to fly all of the equipment and crew into any venue to be able to broadcast a match.” He added: “That is a significant figure. Sky doesn’t have to fly from London to Manchester for one match.”
The ECB’s response and England’s motive
ECB Chair Richard Thompson suggested on Monday, speaking to reporters, that the board could step in to help the hosts and maintain the red-ball element of the tour. Thompson said: “We will definitely look at it.”
CWI announced a wide range of money-saving measures last week, including a 25 per cent cut to player retainer fees. The board described the package as a comprehensive counterattack against the financial, developmental and competitive challenges it faces. Thompson stated: “Look what we did with Zimbabwe two years ago. Look, it will be awful for the West Indies. We want that Test match to play out.”
England have their own reasons for wanting the match to go ahead, since it would aid their preparations for next summer’s Ashes. Thompson explained: “It’s very important for us because our first women’s match in the Ashes is the Headingley Test match. So we need a good red-ball warm-up. We’ve got to be playing somewhere, and I think we’d much prefer to be playing in the West Indies.”
Schedule, bidding and the funding gap
CWI has yet to announce a schedule for the England tour, and the final cost will only be known once one is developed. Hosting everything in a single location would be far cheaper, but the board sees value in the Caribbean’s appeal of staging matches in more than one place. It also cancelled a women’s Test against Australia earlier this year. Dehring noted: “We are hoping still we will be able to cover from our own resources but it [the Test] would be a certainty if the ECB were to assist us.”
The process in which islands bid to host the next block of home fixtures began in recent days and should conclude in December. Interest has already been shown in hosting the women’s matches, and the England schedule is expected to take shape once the bidding closes.
