The cash-strapped West Indies Cricket Board has received a boost with Texas billionaire
Allen Stanford announcing a fresh 100-million dollar investment to revive
the game's fortunes in the Caribbean.
"This won't be just cricket, this will be a life-changing experience,"
Stanford said.
"We can't wait two decades to regain the golden era of
West Indies cricket. We are stuck in the 1950s and 60s. We can't allow ourselves
to stay stuck forever. We have to come into the 21st century," he was quoted
as saying by the 'Daily Telegraph'.
The money would be spent on developing cricket at the grassroots
level and grooming youngsters for the second edition of Stanford twenty20 tournament
early next year in which 21 teams will compete for USD one million.
Stanford had reportedly spent over USD 35 million on the first
edition last year.
"I'm investing a lot of money in this thing and at some
point I expect to make a profit - something that needs to happen for the longevity
of the programme and will provide essential funding for West Indies Cricket,"
Stanford said.
"I have committed my resources and I believe that within
those five years we'll have a world-beating West Indies team again,"
he added.
Stanford said the domestic twenty20 tourney would become the
building ground for talented youngsters.
"The Stanford 20/20 programme we're creating is going
to be the instrument that brings about that success," he said.
The Stanford Twenty20 project has former greats like Sir Garfield
Sobers, Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose and Michael Holding as its Board
of Directors.
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