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20^th Annual Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture features Cricket West Indies’ President, Ricky Skerritt

Reforming Cricket West Indies for Improved On-field Results

Faculty of Sport. Tuesday, November 17, 2020. — President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Ricky Skerritt shared his plans for getting better results on the field of play from the region’s cricketers, when he delivered this year’s annual Frank Worrell Memorial lecture. He addressed the topic ‘Reforming Cricket West Indies for Improved On-field Results’.   

The 20th annual Frank Worrell Memorial lecture was hosted by The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus through its Faculty of Sport, in partnership with CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank. It was carried live on UWItv’s cable channel on Flow EVO, and streamed on its website www.uwitv.org on Monday, November 16, at 8:30 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean)/7:30 p.m. (Jamaica).

Mr. Skerritt who previously served as manager of the West Indies cricket team, was elected CWI president in March 2019. On assuming office he pledged to work towards the redevelopment of the regional game.

Aside from being a cricket administrator, Skerritt was also a former minister in the St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party government.

Speaking ahead of Monday’s event, he said: “Being invited by The UWI Faculty of Sport to speak at such a prestigious event is an honour for me. I look forward to sharing some thoughts on the ongoing reform of Cricket West Indies and the way forward.”

Mrs. Debra King, Director of Corporate Communications of CIBC FirstCaribbean, sponsors of the lecture, said the bank was very pleased to join with The UWI to host its 20th edition.

“Sir Frank’s story by any measure is an inspirational one and we are delighted to be long-time sponsors of this distinguished event which seeks to celebrate his life and honour his memory,” Mrs. King said.

Dean of The UWI Faculty of Sport, Dr. Akshai Mansingh highlighted the significance of the occasion: “This is the first time this lecture is being delivered since the advent of the Faculty of Sport, and for us to have an event associated with the name of Sir Frank is humbling. To have President Skerritt deliver this address is a privilege,” he said.

Other notable guest speakers in the history of the Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture series include a number of Skerritt’s predecessor presidents of the regional cricket board; The UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles; former British Prime Minister John Major; cricket legends Sir Wes Hall and Michael Holding; former Prime Minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson and current Prime Ministers Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dr Keith Mitchell of Grenada.

The late Sir Frank Worrell joined The UWI staff as Warden of the Irvine Hall of the Mona Campus following his retirement from Test cricket in 1963. He also served as Director of Sports at The UWI Mona and St Augustine Campuses, where he nurtured and mentored students. Additionally, he was one of the pioneers of the development of cricket at the Mona Campus.

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Please visit the link below should you wish to watch the lecture:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AlpQRclXB-wc9GpKLzzk0E8m8UH0?e=PProGf

More about The UWI Faculty of Sport

Launched in 2017, the UWI Faculty of Sport integrates teaching and research, professional development, community partnerships, and co- and extra-curricular student sport through three main units: Professional Programmes, Outreach & Projects Unit, Co-curricular & Intramural-Activity Unit and the Academic Programme & Activity Unit. The faculty is made up of four Academies of Sport: Cave Hill Academy of Sport, Open Campus Academy of Sport, Mona Academy of Sport and St Augustine Academy of Sport. For more information visit www.uwi.edu/sport

About The UWI

For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development; The UWI-Coventry Institute for Industry-Academic Partnership with the University of Coventry and the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with the University of Glasgow.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2018 and 2019, then top 20 in 2020. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)