Clyde Butts appointed selection chairman

Clyde Butts, the former West Indies offspinner, has been appointed the chairman of selectors, the West Indies Cricket Board announced after a two-day meeting in St Lucia. The new panel also comprises other former players in Raphick Jumadeen, Robert Haynes, Courtney Browne, Nehemiah Perry and Stuart Williams.

The board's plans to set up its cricket academy received a boost after Sagicor, a major Caribbean financial services provider, agreed in principle to support the High Performance Centre of the academy. The company has committed to a US$2.5 million deal over a five-year period from 2008 to 2012 to develop and maintain the centre, which will be located at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados.

The board has also decided to set up a non-profit subsidiary, which will be responsible for the financial management of all its cricket development projects. The WICB also agreed to a Stakeholders Conference in October this year to review it's Draft Strategic Plan for the period between 2008 to 2012. All the major interest groups that comprise and support West Indies cricket are expected to participate.

The board's directors also received a briefing on a proposed change in the ICC's Future Tours Programme after 2012, when Tests will be played on a league or championship basis from which the top team in the world will be decided.