The Hidden Cost of Producing a West Indies Cricketer

The Hidden Cost of Producing a West Indies Cricketer

Pt 1

Issue No 26

Everyone loves talking about talent.

Raw talent. Natural ability. The Caribbean gift.

What we don’t talk about nearly enough is what it actually costs to turn that talent into an elite cricketer.

Because talent is free.
Development isn’t.

There’s a quiet assumption that cricket development in the Caribbean is relatively cheap. That our players “just play”, and the system simply identifies the best and moves them along.

That belief is comforting.
It’s also wrong.

By the time a player reaches Under-19 level, they’ve already passed through multiple national age-group programs that are expensive, logistically complex, and entirely funded by the system.

Flights.
Accommodation.
Meals.
Venue rentals.
Match officials.
Support staff.
Medical coverage.

None of this is optional.

Using current programme costs, the investment per player looks roughly like this: (costs in US Dollars)

That brings the total investment from Under-15 through Under-19 to around USD $165k–USD $170k per elite junior.

That figure tends to surprise people. It shouldn’t.

Multiply that across squads and territories and you’re quickly into eight-figure annual commitments just to keep the pathway functioning.

This isn’t luxury spending.

This is geography.
This is reality.
This is the cost of developing players across multiple islands and countries.

If anything, these programmes often operate under constraint, not excess.

Which leads to the uncomfortable part.

Cricket already spends like an investor.
It just refuses to admit it.

Every year, the system puts significant capital into young players with the hope that some will progress to senior cricket and beyond.

And when that happens, the system celebrates the success.

But financially, nothing changes.

There is no mechanism that connects success at the top back to investment at the bottom. Once a player leaves the junior system, the money is gone forever.

That’s not development.
That’s leakage.

And here’s the key point.

The problem is not that most players don’t make it. That’s normal.
The problem is that cricket has designed a system where even success doesn’t sustain the pathway.

That’s what we need to confront.

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