Vincentians are waiting for the government’s next delivery after a letter that the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) sent stating that they had no objection to the Emancipation Cricket Festival (ECF) has turned out to be a no ball.
CPL has sent a second letter to the Ralph Gonsalves government, saying that the government has to first obtain the permission of Cricket West Indies (CWI), before CPL could give its endorsement for the ECF, slated to take place at Arnos Vale from July 31 to Aug. 3.
CWI is headed by Vincentian Kishore Shallow, who Gonsalves endorsed in 2023, when he was first elected to head cricket in the region.
However, Shallow has since joined the opposition New Democratic Party and has been selected as its candidate for North Leeward in the next general elections, widely expected by November, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.
Since Shallow’s candidacy, Gonsalves has been on a campaign to oust him from CWI.
However, Shallow was re-elected unopposed earlier this year, following reform of the CWI, including limiting the number of terms that a president can serve, saying he believes the same should be the case for a prime minister.
On Wednesday, Gonsalves gloated on his show on NBC Radio after receiving a letter from CPL saying that it did not object to the EFC and offering any help that the government might need.
However, there has been silence from the government since CPL sent a second letter on Wednesday, saying that the government must first obtain approval from CWI before the CPL can sanction the tournament.
Cricketers cautioned about ICC ban
In his radio interview on Tuesday, Shallow had cautioned professional cricketers being courted by the government that participation in an unsanctioned ECF could put them at risk of being banned by the world governing body for cricket, ICC.
Some political observers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have dismissed the ECF as a political gimmick intended to bat off Shallow’s shine in North Leeward, where he is challenging Carlos James of Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party.
After losing in 2015 by 12 votes, James won the North Leeward seat in 2020 by one vote after a contentious recount.
Shallow’s political opponents have been salivating at the continued poor performance of the West Indies even after he became president of CWI in 2023.
The government has organised the ECF for the Emancipation weekend, even as Gonsalves has expressed displeasure with the event that CWI held in Barbados last month to mark the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ first World Cup victory and to honour the surviving members of that squad.
ECF a ‘circus’
At his campaign events, Shallow has repeatedly referred to Gonsalves, 79, as “the old clown”. And in the wide-ranging interview on Tuesday, he said that the ECF was a “circus”.
He suggested that the ECF might be trespassing on the Vincentian Premier League — which he helped to found several years ago — but said the bigger issue had to do with the CPL.
Shallow said that James, the tourism minister, did not even understand that portfolio but wanted to venture into sports.
“Now, he’s talking about this is going to be the biggest cricket festival in the Caribbean. Now I would tell you that is trespassing on CPL, and it cannot be sanctioned as a tournament.”
Shallow said that the CPL’s approval is not needed for a domestic tournament that includes only local players, adding that in such a case, some clearance is still needed, as had been the case for VPL.
He, however, said that James had said that foreign players would participate in the ECF.
“And foreign players cannot participate in it unless it is sanctioned or else they will be subjected to a ban from international cricket,” Shallow said.
“But again, if you don’t engage cricket administrators, you won’t know these things. It is a circus. I told you, it is a circus, and you’re squandering Vincentians’ hard-earned money for this event.
Shallow further said that CWI “could potentially be called into conflict with our agreement with CPL if we allow any tournament between 10 and 20 overs to be played in this regional space.
“And so, if you are having, according to the minister of tourism/sports, the biggest cricket festival in the Caribbean with international players, that is a conflict. That is competing with CPL,” Shallow said, noting that CPL starts in August.
“… remember, these days, you’re talking about anti-corruption and all these different things involved in these tournaments. But because when you’re running a circus, then anything at play, anything happen. And this is where our state has reached.”
CWI ‘frightening people’
However, in his radio show on Wednesday, Gonsalves said he would have thought that CWI, on hearing about the ECF, would have told his government that they would like to support it.
He, however, said that CWI issued a statement on Tuesday, “threatening the players, say, ‘Listen, if you go and get involved in this, you could lose any opportunity to play any form of cricket, including CPL cricket, because you had to get permission from CPL”.
The prime minister said that CWI was “frightening people”, adding that some players were worried and reconsidering the decision to take part in the government’s tournament.
“Of course, their joy, the joy of the leadership of West Indies cricket, including Shallow, that joy was short-lived…” Gonsalves said, adding that his government had been in contact with CPL.
He read a July 15 letter from Pete Russell, CEO of CPL, to Annette Mark, CEO of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, saying he was “delighted to confirm that CPL has no objection to this tournament, and we wish you and your team every success in celebrating such an important landmark for West Indies cricket.
“Should you need anything more from me, please don’t hesitate to reach out,” Russell said.
Gonsalves said the letter had arrived via email at 11:44 a.m. on Tuesday.
“Notice the verb: ‘delighted’,” the prime minister said. “Shallow and Cricket West Indies threatening to see if they could pull the plug on it using CPL, or their purported influence with CPL. I will have more commentary here, not just one.
“… Then the last line, third paragraph, one line, ‘Should you need anything more from me, please don’t hesitate to reach out’,” Gonsalves further emphasised.
“What is the position of Cricket West Indies, as articulated by their leadership and especially Shallow?
“He said that I must shut up. I don’t know anything what I talking about. This is the man who had earlier called me an old fool, an old clown,” Gonsalves said, adding that while he is old, “my brain is ticking over as well as ever, and the tongue is as sharp as ever”.
CPL’s second letter withdraws approval
However, in a second letter dated July 16 and sent to Mark, Russell said he wanted to follow up on the letter he had sent the previous day regarding CPL’s no objection to the ECF.
“Just to be clear and based on our agreement with Cricket West Indies, the first approval must come from CWI ahead of CPL endorsing their approval,” Russell said, adding, “Alone, CPL does not have the authority to sanction any standalone events.
“I was under the impression that CW had given such approval, however if no approval has been sought, we would ask that such a conversation takes place to ensure we are all compliant with the sanctioning process,” Russell wrote.
What would our esteemed leader say. Maybe he’ll try to circumvent the laws governing cricket. We’re becoming a lawless country and by extension, a lawless region. This is the same man when it suits him,would say we’re a country of laws.
Kenton your first paragraph for he win lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Why is the gov’t pushing cricket festival to clash with Windward Island Games on that weekend?. Are the facilities at Diamond ready to accommodate the WIG that was postponed due to Beryl?.
For the purposes of this comment, let me say, the Honorable Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves is not a CLOWN though he might behave as one, and here’s why: The Prime Minister and the Minister of Tourism knows better, there was never a serious intent to stage the so called ECF (emancipation cricket festival) – they understand protocol, the idea was to black balled Dr Shallow, and use it as fuel to propel their election campaign propaganda – I’ll say they are mendacious – Dr Gonsalves would not ask a favor of Dr Shallow, especially in the promotion of tourism / cricket in SVG – his efforts to woo Dr Shallow in the ULP failed so imagine how he feels, if for whatever reason he was able to go through the back door and deal directly with CPL he would have shown the irrelevance of Dr Shallow as president of CWI (Cricket West Indies), it’s all a political stunt – the response from CPL was done out of courtesy – never was it meant to be sanctioned otherwise meetings would have been setup and instructions given as to the next steps, it was only a ploy by the learnt Comrade to bring the office of the president of CWI in contention with the government of SVG and the cricketing world, anything that could be used to weaken an otherwise Dr Shallow in contesting the North Leeward seat will be used by those who are less than honest to achieve victory.
Shallow is going to beat one vote James so Ralph is shitt*** his diapers
me ah Wonder if some mortals ha mirror in dem castle and does look in um ?
D old dying donkey again kicking prancing and braying ? ar yo run fo ar yo life