St John’s Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board has received over two dozen applications from clubs across the region in Phase 1 of the Grassroots Cricket Support Facility.

Applications were received from clubs in Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. The deadline for applications in Phase 1 was February 21.

The Grassroots Cricket Support Facility is part of the WICB Digicel Grassroots Cricket Programme.

The clubs have applied to access grants of up to US$5,000 each to aid in one of three outlined areas:
1.   Infrastructure development
2.   Strengthen training programmes
3.   Procurement of gear and equipment
WICB Project Officer for Grassroots Cricket Fawwaz Baksh commented: “We are impressed with the number of the applications we have received in Phase 1 and also the quality of the applications. It is clear that the clubs have put much thought and care into their submissions and this bodes well for an exciting programme in the development of West Indies cricket.”

“Clubs have been calling on the WICB to lend support to their activities and programmes and their overall development. The WICB has introduced the Support Facility which has stirred significant interests among clubs in the region,” Baksh added.

All received applications will be reviewed by the Grassroots Grant Review Committee and the announcement of successful applications will be done on March 24.

The WICB will open the application process for Phase 2 in June and the deadline for the submission of applications is July 8.

Full details on the WICB Digicel Grassroots Programme is available at http://www.windiescricket.com/grassroots