Cricket West Indies is preparing to launch the procurement process for its planned High Performance Centre in Antigua, with requests for proposals set to be issued shortly for several key components of the development. Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring made the announcement during a symposium jointly hosted by the Antigua and Barbuda Intellectual Property and Commerce Office (ABIPCO), Cricket West Indies and the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, according to Antigua News Room.
Dehring confirmed that construction is expected to begin in the near future as the regional governing body moves forward with plans to establish a world-class cricket development campus on the island.
"We start construction very shortly," Dehring said. "In fact, RFPs are going to be going out from our offices to a high-performance center, indoor center, a television broadcast [facility], and we're going to be building a hotel."
The development will encompass a high-performance training centre equipped with sports science facilities, an indoor cricket centre, television broadcast infrastructure and hotel accommodations designed to support visiting players, teams and supporters. No completion date was announced.
Dehring said the campus will also house a full-time Cricket West Indies Academy, where students will integrate academic studies with cricket as a core component of the curriculum. He framed cricket as an increasingly viable career path for young people, pointing to the earning potential available within the professional game.
"In fact, I was driving by the stadium one day… and found out what a professional cricketer in that league was earning," he said, underscoring his argument that opportunities in the sport now extend well beyond playing alone.
Among the more distinctive features planned for the campus is an interactive "West Indies Cricket Experience" museum. The facility would use audio-visual technology and artificial intelligence to chronicle the history of West Indies cricket and its broader significance to Caribbean identity and culture.
Dehring positioned Antigua as the ideal location for the project, citing the island's concentration of cricket legends, established sporting infrastructure and rich heritage as key advantages over competing destinations. He added that growing international demand for high-performance training centres creates a timely opportunity for Antigua to attract elite athletes, national teams and cricket academies from around the world.
The investment, he said, is intended to cement Antigua's standing as the premier destination for elite cricket training, rehabilitation and sports tourism.
