Four teams contested the tournament – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Combined Islands, the only other team in West Indian domestic cricket at the time, did not participate, as the Windward Islands were playing a multi-day fixture against the touring Australians at the same time. The Banks Trophy was played as a knock-out tournament over a single weekend, from 13 to 15 April 1973. All matches were played at Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados, and had a duration of 40 overs. In the tournament final, Barbados narrowly defeated Guyana, winning by only nine runs. A number of players in the Banks Trophy went on to play a key role in the West Indian team that won the inaugural World Cup in 1975.