The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) confirmed yesterday it will shoulder funding of the forthcoming regional first-class competition, after no agreement was reached with sponsors Carib Brewery for the 2009 season.

The WICB stated in a press release that it will "finance the entire regional tournament through its own cricket development funds".

Carib Brewery had been sponsors of the regional four-day competition for the last six years and the WICB said no renewal agreement was reached for the new format, that extends the season to mid-April with home-and-away games.

"The previous sponsor of the regional tournament was unable to meet the projected cost of sponsorship and consequently informed the WICB that "the unpredictable nature of the 2009 economy" made it difficult to sponsor the tournament this year," the WICB's release said.

Cutback by sponsors

"Local sponsors indicated that they were unable to cover more than 12 per cent of the cost of the regional tournament, leaving the WICB with no choice but to fund the tournament in its entirety," the WICB said.

The WICB said while it is continuing to work with other potential sponsors, the interim position is that the 2009 tournament will be billed "the WICB four-day regional tournament".

The release emphasised that the resurrected home- and-away format, which guarantees players an opportunity to have at least 10 first-class matches in a year, addresses one aspect of the board's five-year strategic plan for development.

The WICB release added that in recent years, the cost of regional tournaments made it difficult to schedule longer tournaments on limited budgets.

"The four-day tournaments would cost about US$1.1 million with sponsors contributing less than 25 per cent."

The WICB four-day regional tournament opens on January 9 and it will again feature seven teams - Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Jamaica and the Combined Campuses and Colleges.

Challenge Final abandoned

The usual season-ending Challenge Final between the top two sides in the competition has been abandoned and the champions will be crowned based on which team earns most points from the 14 rounds of matches.

In the opening round of matches, Leeward Islands will face reigning champions Jamaica in St Kitts, Barbados will be at home to last season's runners-up Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana will meet the Windward Islands in Grenada.

Two months ago, the regional limited overs championship also went off in Guyana without regular sponsors KFC, and Carib's withdrawal now comes on the heels of the recent announcement that American billionaire Allen Stanford is reviewing his investment in West Indies cricket.