ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The following is a statement in response to an article carried by Barbados Today which was entitled “High Performance Academy launched”.
The article stated that according to Beckles, “the University has always maintained that the relationship had to be inclusive of University of West Indies (UWI) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) and efforts to persuade Cameron to re-enter the tripartite arrangement have proved futile.”
“West Indies Cricket Board chose to withdraw from the partnership. We have brokered a tripartite arrangement, UWI, Sagicor, WICB, a tripartite arrangement that gave us the academy that has produced all of these young cricketers. All of these young men who are doing so well, fighting for West Indies, came through the academy.
“I tried to persuade CWI and Mr. Cameron to come back into the tripartite arrangement and they [CWI] have opted not to because they have another approach. We at the University believe in the effectiveness of our research, we believe in the effectiveness of our model. It has been proven that the youngsters who are now fighting for West Indies’ future are products of that mental construct. We have confidence in them and we believe that when they return home, they should return home to an academy,” he said.
CWI’S POSITION
To clarify, CWI, in partnership with UWI, ran a High-Performance Center (HPC) at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados between 2010 and 2016. The HPC was sponsored by Sagicor for a 4-year period, but their contract was unfortunately not renewed. CWI is very grateful to Sagicor for their support over the years and confirms that it would encourage a tripartite relationship and is open to dialogue on the same.
CWI is currently working on a new strategic plan for 2018-2023, and has already held formal discussions with UWI on developing a comprehensive partnership across many different areas of the University.
CWI continues to fund the development of the Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners cricket team and is looking forward to their participation in the Super50 tournament this season.
CWI is committed to developing world-class cricketers and is confident that a new long-term agreement with UWI will be finalised in 2018.