Leeds at centre of ECB's plans (27 April 1999)
THE Leeds area will become a focal point for development of the best players in England as a result of an announcement from Lord's
27-Apr-1999
27 April 1999
Leeds at centre of ECB's plans
Charles Randall
THE Leeds area will become a focal point for development of the best
players in England as a result of an announcement from Lord's.
The England and Wales Cricket Board named their six designated
centres of excellence yesterday and these will include a combined
facility based at Carnegie College, with a home ground at Bradford
Park Avenue.
Students with first-class aspirations from the universities of Leeds
Metropolitan, Leeds and Bradford, plus Bradford College, would be
eligible to participate in the scheme.
With the Yorkshire Academy already in operation at Headingley, the
Leeds part of Yorkshire should be well catered for at the start of
the academic year in 2000. The ECB initiative should also provide
ample opportunity for the large number of Asian cricketers in the
area.
The six centres, each attracting an annual ECB grant of £50,000, have
been chosen from 18 bids. The successful applicants are Oxford (with
Oxford Brookes), Cambridge (with Anglia Polytechnic), Loughborough,
Durham, Cardiff (involving Cardiff, Cardiff Institute and Glamorgan)
and Leeds (to be co-ordinated with a separate bid from Bradford and
Bradford College).
Other centres, such as Exeter, Bristol and Manchester, could be
developed in any case, without ECB patronage.
John Carr, an ECB official, said: "Our final choice reflects the need
to balance an established cricket pedigree with high-quality indoor
and outdoor facilities, a full range of academic courses and
admissions opportunities, and the provision of excellent sports
science and medicine input."
The ECB are planning a two-day match championship for the centres, in
addition to three first-class fixtures each against counties.
ECB centres: Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds/Bradford, Durham, Loughborough,
Cardiff.
Unsuccessful bids: Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol,
Exeter, Hull, Canterbury, Manchester, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)