Mr. Lloyd was met at the Wallblake Airport by the Hon. Minister of Sport Mr. Evans McNeil Rogers, Permanent Secretary Mr. Rodney Rey, Sports Officer Mr. Alkins Rogers, President of the Anguilla Cricket Association Mr. Benjamin Hughes, Cricket Development Officer Mr. Cardigan Connor and other members of the Cricket Association.

Easily the most successful West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd is not one to boast of his achievements. A bespectacled, hard hitting left handed batsman from Guyana, he led the West Indies in 74 Tests including 26 in succession without defeat.

He has been quoted as saying, “My greatest moment was captaining the West Indies and, more or less, being successful and making the West Indies people proud”.

He was the first West Indian to play 100 test matches. He scored 7,515 runs average 46.68 including 19 centuries in 110 Test Matches and held 90 catches.

Lloyd not only captained the side during the glory days of the late 1970’s and 1980’s but he was also in charge when the West Indies won the first two World Cups in 1975 where he was Man of the Match for a magnificent 100 against Australia and in 1979 where the West Indies were successful against England.

Lloyd is now the Cricketing Ambassador for Anguilla in the upcoming Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament slated for July to September 2006. There are 18 regional teams taking part. Anguilla is one of them. A total of US$280,000.00 will be allocated to the Anguilla Cricket Association by the Stanford Group for the improvement and maintenance of ground facilities, US$10,000.00 per month to assist the payment of coaches and assist players during the preparation of the 20/20 Tournament.

Cardigan Connor (right) with cricket fans

On Friday 11th November Lloyd visited the main venue for improvement which is the Ronald Webster Park. He later met with Hon. Minister Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rodney Rey, Mr. Alkins Rogers and Members of the Anguilla Cricket Association. He noted, “There is a lot of potential for Anguilla to host a One Day International in the near future. Anguilla just has to upgrade the grounds and create a first class environment”. Lloyd also expressed concern that the pitch in the middle would most likely will be overworked and therefore will not be at it’s best for any International or Regional Cricket Matches. “We need at least two or even three pitches out there so we can have a main pitch in top form for the top class matches.”

With these proposals in place Anguilla can invite County Cricket teams as part of their preparations for their upcoming season in England. This would be a great opportunity to catapult Anguilla into the Sport’s Tourism Market.

The Hon. Minister of Sport Rogers thanked Mr. Lloyd for the role that he is playing on behalf of the Stanford Group and promised that the Ministry of Sport, which has always played a supportive role in the development of cricket in Anguilla, will play an equally supportive role in this venture.

Lloyd will be coming back to Anguilla early in the New Year, and throughout the year, to follow through with the overall development.

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