Lloyd to join West Indies in India

Clive Lloyd's renewed involvement in West Indies cricket strengthened yesterday with the announcement that the former West Indies captain would join the West Indies team at the Champions Trophy in India that starts on Saturday.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said Lloyd's appointment was taken following "consultations" with and with the "concurrence" of head coach Bennett King and captain Brian Lara.

After his nomination as vice-president was defeated at the WICB's annual meeting earlier this year, Lloyd was appointed a non-elected member of the directorate and chairman of the cricket committee.

He quit the board of the privately-organised Stanford 20/20 Tournament in August, citing his "concerns for West Indies cricket".

"Lloyd will serve the dual purpose of WICB representative, to explore opportunities for additional games next year as well as to make his vast experience available to the team," the WICB said in a media release. "He has agreed to make himself accessible to the captain, coach and manager to assist in any way which will build morale, strengthen the team's performance and encourage a stronger culture of professionalism and discipline.

"Clive will be in India essentially to support (manager) Tony Howard and the team management," the release quoted WICB president Ken Gordon as saying.

"It is something we've done before and we know that Clive's vast experience in leading victorious West Indian teams in the past would be an additional asset to the touring team."

Lloyd led the West Indies in 74 Tests between 1974 and 1985, with a record of 36 won, 12 lost, 26 drawn. He was coach and manager of the team from 1996 to 1999. The West Indies are defending champions following their unforgettable victory over England at the Oval in London in September 2004. They start their campaign in the qualifying round against Zimbabwe on Sunday.