St John’s, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board and Digicel have made a massive presentation of cricket gear all across the Caribbean. The WICB and the proud sponsor of West Indies cricket presented over 150 cricket bats, 260 pairs of batting gloves and 150 pairs of batting pads to various cricketing groups in 11 countries in the region.
The gear presentation, which was rolled out over the past weeks, is part of the WICB Digicel Grassroots Programme. The cricketing groups were established by the WICB in order to execute the Grassroots Programme.
Cricket balls, wicket keeping pads and gloves, kit bags and over 5000 Digicel Grassroots T shirts were also presented to the various groups for their training programmes for youngsters between the ages of 12 and 17.
"We are confident that with the presentation of this wide assortment of critically needed gear we will begin to see cricket flourishing at the grassroots level in the Caribbean once again," said WICB Project Officer for Youth Development Fawwaz Baksh.
"Cricket gear is expensive and the WICB understands that for the young players to be involved in the game and take it seriously they need to have proper gear and that is why we have decided to step up and ensure that the youngsters are well equipped," Baksh added.
Karl Donnelly, Head of Group Sponsorship for Digicel, commented: "The development and support of grassroots cricket programmes is fundamental to the future of the game. These kids are passionate about cricket and Digicel is delighted to be supplying them with much-needed cricket gear for their training programmes. These kids are the future of West Indies cricket, and, as such, we will do everything we can to nurture their talent and enthusiasm and give these kids the opportunity to shine.
The WICB has already ordered another shipment of gear for presentation to even more groups in more countries and this will take place in the coming weeks.
Gear presented:
Bats – 150
Batting gloves – 260 pairs
Helmets – 100
Batting pads – 150 pairs
Wicketkeeper pads – 75 pairs
Wicketkeeping gloves – 75 pairs
Balls – 450
Kit bags – 75
T shirts – 5200