Over $4 million income for T&TCB in 2008
November 5th 2008

THE T&T Cricket Board (T&TCB) has come in for high praises by its members following its annual general meeting which took place recently at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

In the local board’s annual ‘audited financial report’ for the period 2007 -2008, the statement of income has shown that there is a net surplus for the T&TCB for 2008 of $4,368, 812.00, close to $2 million more than last year. The surplus has come about from a net surplus from Operations ($3,010,252), the Sir Frank Worrell Development Operations ($564,187.00) and the Stanford Twenty20 event ($794,373.00).

The statement of income also reflected an expenditure in 2008 of $5,532,346.00, less than $2 million it incurred in 2007.

In the annual report delivered by the chief executive officer (CEO) and general secretary of the T&TCB, Forbes Persaud, it was stated that there will be a change in the format in club competitions at the senior level.

Change of format for club competitions

He indicated that the National League divisions one and two have been disbanded and will be replaced by a Premier Division as well as a North and South Championship Division. The report stated that 10 clubs will participate in each division.

Also in the report, it was mentioned that the board, in its effort to assist all zones and Tobago, has continued to fund these organisations to the tune of well over $200,000 annually. It stated that approximately $65,000 in cash via a grant along with club and players registration fees are given to each organisation, while the rest is spent on developmental programmes and defraying costs for all inter-zone matches.

It was also pointed out that apart from organising competitions and prize giving functions, there is little or no activities that are undertaken in some zones.

T&TCB to deal with Central Zone

The board meanwhile, has made several efforts to address problems in the Central Zone. For the entire season in 2008, the zone has been experiencing serious administrative problems and these have had adverse effects on the smooth running of the zone. The board has recently asked Dr Claude Denbow to act as an arbitrator.

Among the upcoming events planned for the future, the T&TCB will host the East Rand Academy Under-23 team of South Africa next year from January 8-25. Five One-Day matches and two (2) day matches have been arranged.

A T&T U-23 team has been invited by the academy to make a reciprocal tour of South Africa in 2009 at the expense of East Rand Academy.

Also the T&TCB has taken another initiative to assist in the development of youth cricket and will be staging a Regional U-17 Series from December 9-18. All territorial boards have accepted the invitation to participate.

Executive member of the local board, Lalman Kowlessar said that T&TCB has continued to lead the way with its excellent management skills.

“There is no doubt about it that the T&TCB has done a fantastic job half-way through its second term in office. Its youth programmes are second to none in the Caribbean and this can be clearly seen through the performances of the various national teams,” Kowlessar said.