Matthew: Four Knights rejected last proposal, ball in their court

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One of the country’s four knighted cricketers, Sir Vivian Richards (left) chats with former sports minister EP Chet Greene who had first introduced the Four Knights concept back in 2014. (File photo)
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By Neto Baptiste

The proposed Four Knights’ academy has reportedly hit yet another roadblock with Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew, revealing that a proposal pitched to the four cricketers during a meeting with Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been rejected.

Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Matthew said he had met with the four knighted former West Indies cricketers in Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Curtly Ambrose, Sir Richie Richardson and Sir Andy Roberts, during which he put a proposal on the table that would see the academy partnering with CWI.

The minister said however, the former players were not in total agreement with those plans.

“I spoke to Mr. Johnny Grave who is the CEO for Cricket West Indies, and I believe he discussed it with his board which had given support for the idea. The four knights, when I spoke to them about it, and we actually met with Cricket West Indies, were not in favour of that proposal, and so I invited them to prepare a proposal that they are comfortable with, and we’ll have a look at it and there is where we are,” he said.

Matthew said that in his opinion, the proposal would have been mutually beneficial to all involved as CWI had all the necessary infrastructure in place at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

“I presented a proposal to them where we would have discussions with Cricket West Indies with a view on the high performance centre up at Sticky Wicket which the [CWI] is developing; it would be renamed in honour of the four knights, so it would be the four knights academy, and it would operate in collaboration with the four knights and some of the thoughts that they had,” he said.

The four knights’ initiative was first introduced in 2014 by then-sports minister, EP Chet Greene. Since then, there has been little-to-no progress in bringing the concept into reality.

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