ST JOHN’S, Antigua — Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board, Jamaican Michael Muirhead, hailed the WICB Scotiabank Kiddy Cricket Programme as critical to the overall development of West Indies Cricket.

“Kiddy Cricket Festivals act as a celebratory event for our children to show-off their talent, building confidence, teamwork and discipline, it also acts as a spring board to the next level of their development at the Grassroots Cricket level,” Muirhead said, while speaking at the launch of the Kiddy Cricket Festival in Antigua last week.

“(Kiddy Cricket Festivals) is where talent identification is done, and in each territory across the region, WICB and our partner Scotiabank will be hosting Kiddy Cricket Summer Camps for high performing and outstanding young cricketers, both boys and girls, indentified in the programme annually,” he added.

Also speaking at the launch at the Rising Sun Playing Field, Winston Williams Jr, acting Minister of Education, Sports, Youth and Gender Affairs in the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

“You can get more out of your children’s development by ensuring that you enrol them in sport. We know the importance of cricket and what cricket has done for regional development. West Indies cricket is and will always remain the best playing cricket anywhere in the world,” Williams said.

In his address, Scotiabank Antigua country manager Gordon Julien said that the bank was proud to be associated with West Indies cricket over the years.

“Scotiabank has been the official sponsor and partner of the WICB Kiddy Cricket Programme since its inception 14 years ago. Regionally, the Kiddy Cricket Programme has grown, spanning 14 territories in the region with over 720 primary schools and benefits in excess of 150,000 children in the Caribbean each year,” Julien noted.

The finals of the Kiddy Cricket Festival in Antigua is scheduled for the May 17 at the Dredgers and Rising Sun Grounds where the top-eightschools will play friendly matches for the Kiddy Cricket Champion’s trophy, which is was jointly celebrated by St John’s Lutheran and Bethesda Primary Schools at the Kiddy Cricket Festival 2012.

Other awards for Most Disciplined School, Most Improved Schools, Best Performing Batsman, Best Performing Bowler and Best Performing Fielder will be up for grabs.

The West Indies Cricket Board and Scotiabank will be hosting other Kiddy Cricket Festivals in 14 territories across the Caribbean through to June. This exercise will be followed by a Kiddy Cricket Summer Camp for identified high performers, both boys and girls, in order to prepare them for the next level of their cricket development which will be hosted between June and August.