President of Cricket West Indies, Kishore Shallow has rebutted the suggestion by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves that domestic politics played a role in St. Vincent and the Grenadines not hosting any of the T20 Cricket games when Australia tours the region this year.
Shallow has been selected as a candidate for the main opposition New Democratic Party to contest the North Leeward seat in the general elections widely expected before yearend.
Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party is seeking a sixth consecutive term in office and the prime minister has constantly criticised Shallow’s leadership of Cricket West Indies since his candidacy was announced.
In a statement on Monday, one day after Gonsalves’ latest salvo, Shallow said that CWI venue selection is guided by three main criteria: cost efficiency, commercial potential and cricket strategy.
He said best efforts are 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 favourable,” Shallow said.
He said the matches will be played in St. Kitts, which has “multiple options for the prerequisite accommodation and hosting”.
Shallow said that while SVG will not host any of the Australia games, there are three other hosting opportunities given to SVG this year.
SVG was given other hosting opportunities, namely, two first-class matches, the West Indies Women’s Blaze, and 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,” Shallow said.
“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,” the CWI president said.
Speaking on WE FM on Sunday, Gonsalves expressed disappointment that SVG will not host any of the Australia games, noting the large turnout at the Bangladesh-West Indies games last year.
He said that Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves had a WhatsApp message from “a relevant person with whom he is dealing … at Cricket West Indies, that we will get some T20 games for the Australia tour for 2025.
“That’s what had been said,” the prime minister said, adding that on Wednesday, at noon, CWI announced the games for 2025 and SVG is not a host of any of the Australia matches.
“But we were informed only two days before,” Gonsalves said, adding that his government received a letter from CWI close to midday “that in 2025, all they’d be getting would be some games involving a T20 with women. We’re happy about that, because we want to see our women. And then next year, something from New Zealand, some T20s and 2027 something with women, again.”
Gonsalves maintained that CWI had given SVG “assurances” about the 2025 Australian games.
“Those assurances have not come to fruition. Camilo has been dealing with them, interfacing, but he had been very much involved with it as a Minister of Economic Development and very involved in the sport facility, with the cricket facility.
“He even said to them, ‘Well, there is the Holiday Inn — because the Holiday Inn doesn’t do lunch or dinner, but arrangements can be made, suitable arrangements can be made, and something can be done, if they just inform us, or if they even want to go to Sandals, which is expensive, relevant arrangements can be made.”
iWitness News understands that the Bangladeshi team has complained about the inadequate facilities at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites that the government opened at Diamond in November 2024, one month before the games.
The suggestion that Shallow don’t want the big games here is crazy. It would profit him more to have them than not to. Why is s the PM panicking over Shallow? Seems he is his greatest threat