Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
West Indian pace greats Courtney Walsh (left) and Curtly Ambrose at the launch of the Stanford Twenty/20 cricket tournament in Antigua on Monday. - CONTRIBUTED
ST. JOHNS, Antigua:
THE STANFORD Twenty/20 cricket tournament was given the thumbs up by several past West Indies cricket greats who assembled in the Antiguan capital for Monday's grand announcement of a US$28 million financial injection into the regional game.
Speaking on behalf of the 14 cricket legends who will serve as ambassadors for the tournament, former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd described the Stanford initiative as potentially the single greatest private sector investment in cricket since the Kerry Packer revolution more than 25 years ago.
UNDERVALUED
"Like Kerry Packer, Mr. Stanford has recognised that West Indies cricket at its very best has been undervalued and its greatest ambassadors have been grossly underpaid," Lloyd said.
Former West Indies offspinner and world Test wickets record holder Lance Gibbs said the tournament that will comprise 17 countries will serve to unearth new talent.
"It is a major plus for us as now we will get more cricketers competing for selection," Gibbs said. "Out of the blue we might just get two or three players who could force themselves into the 2007 World Cup squad," he added.
Another former world Test wickets record holder and West Indies captain, Jamaica's Courtney Walsh, said it was something exciting to look forward to.
"If everybody works hard for the success of the tournament, I think West Indies cricket will benefit tremendously," Walsh said.
THE RIGHT TIME
Like Gibbs, Walsh felt the timing was good as it would set the stage for the regional fans to see a lot more talent and to ensure a bigger pool of players for the World Cup.
Walsh's former bowling partner, Curtly Ambrose, who retired in 2000 after taking 405 Test wickets, said the Stanford Twenty/20 competition would help to attract more teenagers to the game, both as players and spectators.
"Cricket can be very boring at times and I believe the Twenty/20 competition will inject something for the youth. The game has to be made more attractive and I think that's what Mr. Stanford's initiative is all about," Ambrose said.
Ambrose advocated a wait-and-see approach before the tournament is turned into an annual festival.
"It is still early days. It will all depend on the kind of response we get next year. I think we should wait until after the 'first round' then we will see what happens," said Ambrose. The West Indies fast bowling great said he was honoured to be a part of the new venture.
"There are so many great cricketers from the past he (Stanford) could have chosen and I will do whatever it takes to see that this project survives," Ambrose said.
Seventeen regional countries, including Jamaica, have been invited for the tournament that will be played over five weeks, starting in August 2006.
NON-TRADITIONAL TEAMS
The competing countries will include non-traditional teams such as the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and British Virgin Islands.
The other invited countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago.
The format of the competition will be a single elimination knock out with the winners taking home a whopping US$1 million with the runners-up earning US$500,000.
The man of the match in every game will pocket US$25,000 and the man of the match in the final, US$100,000.
In addition, the cricket boards of the top two teams will receive US$200,000 and $100,000 respectively to develop and improve cricket facilities.
