By Neto Baptiste
The wheels of progress may be turning much slower than anticipated, but efforts to bring the long awaited Four Knights Cricket Academy concept into realisation continue almost eight years after it was first announced back in 2015.
This is the reassurance from legendary batsman and one of four knighted cricketers whose name is attached to the concept, Sir Vivian Richards, who revealed that there is an ongoing push for financial support.
“One of the homeowners up at Mill Reef had asked us to give our business proposal to him because these things take money. At first, we were promised a lot of stuff that didn’t come through, so we have to try and find the means of doing this.
“I personally had a meeting with this homeowner and he asked us to put forward a business proposal, which we had Bacchus [Garfield Joseph] do for us. He’s helping us in a big way where this is concerned because, as he says, he sees the potential.
“So we’re just waiting on this particular homeowner of such and all the other institutions which I think we would have contacted,” he said.
The concept was announced by former minister of sports, EP Chet Greene back in 2015, but never materialised during his tenure. The idea was picked up by current sports minister Daryll Matthew in 2018 following fresh general elections but again, it saw no real progress.
Matthew, in 2019, announced that the government would partner with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Coolidge Cricket Ground, as they sought to roll out the long talked-about academy.
According to Sir Viv, although the government may not be as heavily involved going forward, the academy could benefit from the use of facilities and input from all who stand to benefit.
“I still believe that the complex would be very much available, but all of the other stuff that I guess were promised before, we’ve got to find new ways of getting to some of the things that were promised before.
“I guess as we move forward as well hearing exactly what sort of sponsorship and the volume to make this thing happen and whether that’s going to happen or not, then we can go forward to the West Indies Cricket Board and see what’s the true potential in terms of the partnership moving forward,” he said.
“The huge setback would have been that a whole lot of things would have been promised before because of, I guess, the rush to get this thing off the ground. We have had to rethink the whole process so it is going to take time I guess,” Sir Viv added.
The other knighted former cricketers, Sir Andy Roberts, Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Richie Richardson have all thrown their time and support behind the initiative.