CRICKET West Indies (CWI) announced the formation of a new Emerging Players Academy, aimed at supporting the development of world-class players from the Caribbean.

A CWI media release on Friday said, 'The academy, which will run annually, will utilise the facilities at the Coolidge Cricket Ground - the new home of West Indies cricket, where the best young men's and women's cricketers will come to Antigua throughout the year for several high-performance training and development camps.'

The first intake for the CWI Emerging Players Academy will start in July 2022 and run for a year. Up to 30 players will be selected from both the men's and women's talent pool, aged between 19 and 25.

'The aim is to bridge the gap after the West Indies Under-19 level and assist their progression into one of the six territorial board franchise squads, with the intention that they will graduate to earn one of the 15 retainer contracts available in each team.'

Players selected for the CWI Emerging Players Academy will be first expected to meet the CWI minimum fitness requirements before they will be exposed to high-quality training programmes and camps in Antigua. The programme will focus on developing the players holistically and include specific aspects of the game away from the pitch, such as media engagements, financial management, personal development and leadership.

Players will also enjoy playing opportunities through the CPL Emerging Players partnership with CWI, and the Emerging Players team in the annual CG Insurance Super50 Cup.

Jimmy Adams, the director of cricket at CWI, said, 'For some time, CWI has been looking at ways of bridging that critical gap between our junior and professional levels and this academy initiative provides us with a great start towards achieving this. The programme will also play an important role in building regional capacity within high-performance player support - technical, physical, mental, and personal development. The programme will also set a template for our territories to mirror as they build out their individual high-performance pathway programmes.'

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