Gonsalves Blasts ‘Neocolonial Entity’ CWI in Fiery Radio Broadside

Bridgetown — Former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has intensified the Caribbean’s cricket governance crisis, branding Cricket West Indies (CWI) “a neocolonial entity” during a caustic appearance on the Barbados radio programme Mason and Guest on Tuesday night.

Gonsalves, speaking from Kingstown, aligned himself squarely with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s recent vow that Barbados will “chart its own cricketing destiny” after Kensington Oval—revered regionally as “The Mecca”—was omitted from the 2026 home-series schedule that will feature Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan between June and August.

“CWI, a private-sector company which arrogantly and exclusively presumes to run the public good known as cricket, has been a disaster on all material fronts,” Gonsalves told host Tony Mason. “You can’t have three teams coming to the Caribbean and Barbados doesn’t get a game. I’m not Bajan, but I will say that if you’re having three teams come into the region, Barbados should get a match.”

The forthcoming tour comprises four Tests, six One-Day Internationals and six T20 Internationals, all allocated to Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. The snub to Kensington Oval has ignited political fires across the Lesser Antilles, and Gonsalves’ intervention gives the discontent a distinctly pan-Caribbean flavour.

Beyond scheduling, the veteran leader zeroed in on governance, renewing his claim that CWI President Dr Kishore Shallow’s dual role as a sitting government minister represents “a clear conflict of interest.” Yet his broader indictment targeted the very legitimacy of the organisation. Gonsalves argued that CWI’s authority stems not from Caribbean citizens but from the International Cricket Council, which he characterised as “run from Dubai under the control and direction of Indian cricket imperialism.”

He concluded that CWI has “lost any sense of the historic mission and purpose of West Indies cricket,” leaving the region with what he labelled a neocolonial structure ill-suited to the cultural and social weight the sport carries across the islands.

With Mottley already signalling that Barbados will pursue autonomous cricket strategies, Gonsalves’ broadside adds heavyweight political pressure on CWI to revisit both its scheduling philosophy and its governance model before the first ball is bowled in 2026.

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