CARICOM partners with WICB to boost cricket in schools

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Schools throughout the Caribbean Community are being given an opportunity to vie for cricket nets as part of a new initiative announced by the Georgetown-based Secretariat yesterday called the ‘Pitch in Schools Project’.

The project will provide primary and secondary schools with an opportunity to vie for the construction of cricket net facilities or an upgrade to such facilities where they already exist.
The project emanated from a plan developed by Deputy Programme Manager for Sports at the CARICOM Secretariat, John Campbell.
“The proposal will provide a means through which the infrastructure and facilities available in schools across the region can be developed as a step towards the improvement of cricket in schools,” said a statement released by the CARICOM Secretariat yesterday.
“The objectives of this project are to promote and facilitate quality participation and training in cricket and to generate greater interest and increased playing time in the sport through improved facilities.”
The CARICOM Secretariat says it has collaborated extensively with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in the shaping of the new initiative, hailed as a new era for cricket in schools across the CARICOM region.
Regional sponsors have also been invited to participate in the ‘Pitch in Schools Project’ which officials hope would trigger the resurgence of the sport in the region.
“It is expected that coming out of this project, improved infrastructure and facilities will promote further participation in the sport from youngsters across the CARICOM region,” the CARICOM statement said.
“It is also envisioned that there will be year-round access to training facilities through the presence of an all-weather practice surface and subsequently, an increase in the pool of cricket talent in the region as a result of greater practice and training options.”