While the British are getting ready to put the future of their cricket in the hands of the Clive Lloyd Academy, some of the planners in regional cricket are at odds over which course is best for West Indies cricket.
The British Sports and Arts foundation is pumping £2.5 million into the Manchester-based academy which has been named after the former Lancashire and West Indies captain, who is also the current West Indies manager.
And reacting to the news, Alloy Lequay, president and CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board voiced concern that the wheels of the West Indies Board were turning too slowly.
While first saying he saw no conflict of interest in having a Lloyd Academy since, ``Clive has been a resident of the UK for many years and calling it the Clive LLoyd Academy is merely paying tribute to him,'' Lequay also declared, ``it merely reinforces our thinking some time ago.'' That thinking, Lequay told the Express, has seen the regional cricket body pay less than earnest attention to the idea of an academy for the Caribbean. ``Four years ago,'' Lequay said, ``the Teddy Griffith Strategic Committee looked at the idea of an academy.
And as chairman of the Cricket Development Committee of the West Indies Board, my Committee was asked to do a feasibility study since the end of 1995. And it's on the back burner now''.
Asked whether England's intended use of a Windies great was not ironic, Lequay conceded that, ``in a sense it is. Clive has so much to contribute to West Indies cricket. All our top players have been doing development work in other parts of the world,'' he continued. ``But money is part of the problem.''
WICB Chief Executive officer Stephen Camacho however told the Expressthe Board had not yet given up on an academy.
And while he admitted to having heard nothing of the Lloyd Academy in the UK as of yesterday, he indicated that the WICB were exploring another option.
The venture is part of wide-ranging efforts to get the regional game in shape for the 21st century. But by that time, Lequay hopes to have a Trinidad and Tobago academy at Brechin Castle up and running. ``The plans are well advanced,'' he said of the project which is expected to cost TT$ 1.8 million.
``All planning permission (two years in coming) has been granted and drawings have been completed. The facility will have two indoor nets, accommodation for 16 people, a gym and in the adjacent headquarters, library services,'' Lequay said.