The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is rolling out a new pitch for the annual regional season.

Starting next year, the domestic cricket season will begin in early October and end the following March. All first-class matches under the WICB?s auspices will be played during this six-month period. At present, the four-day competition takes place very early in the year while the one-day tournament is in October.

Speaking at a charity dinner to mark the 48th anniversary of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board last Friday, WICB president Teddy Griffith announced a series of dramatic changes and said the new structure is at the core of the Board?s strategy to maximise the quality and quantity of cricket at regional level.

He confirmed that both regional competitions ? the limited-overs and four-day tournaments ? would revert to being contested by the six teams representing the territorial members of the board: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, and Windward Islands. The aim of that format, said Griffith, is to provide the most competitive environment possible outside international cricket.

?Ideally, the mix of players taking part should include budding stars of the future, experienced campaigners who never quite made the Test team, and current and past Test players. From this should come the players for our international commitments.?

The WICB chief noted young players would benefit from playing with and against the most senior players in the region and, by their performances, would stake their claims for inclusion in the West Indies team.

?The standard must be such that the step up to Test or international cricket can be smoothly and confidently handled by those chosen to represent the region at the Test level,? stressed the president.

?It is therefore a priority for the WICB to strengthen and improve this competition while maintaining its integrity.?

Griffith noted that over the past six or seven years, the West Indies? performance in international cricket had been disappointing to its many supporters around the world and he cited some reasons for this decline. These included the natural cycle of dominance that was a feature of most sports, the disappearance of opportunities in the professional circuit in English county cricket, the lack of proper preparation for international engagements, poor team selection and a hesitancy to adopt modern techniques used by other teams.

He revealed that in the new format, the one-day tournament will be played in three countries. The preliminary rounds will take place on a round-robin basis with a first round in one country and a second round in another. The top four teams will then move on to the final-four weekend, which will take place in a third country.

The four-day tournament will be played over two rounds on a home-and-away basis ending with a five-day final between the top two teams. There will also be a short Christmas break.

Griffith added that a new feature being considered, but not yet finalised, was the option for a team to choose up to three players not in the squad of another country. If this were to be applied, teams might be asked to name an initial squad of 20 from which probably 14 might be in the final squad. The other six players would then be eligible to be chosen by any other participating country.

The intention would be to permit regional teams with weaknesses in certain areas to strengthen their squads, thereby making for more competitive cricket and ensuring the best players participate.

Griffith also said the board intends to discuss starting their home Tests and limited-overs series earlier with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

?If this were achieved the regional domestic season would be played at the same time as Tests and ODIs, ensuring that players were match-fit if changes were to be made to the West Indies team,? he explained.

?This would also minimise the possibility of lost playing days in the international series due to rain as is now the case when the season extends through June.?