Richardson is eagerly awaiting to witness the impact of the funds on both countries
The West Indies and Zimbabwe have become the two latest nations to be granted funding through the International Cricket Council (ICC) Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP), which is solely aimed at improving the level of international cricket played around the world.
According to the agreement, the West Indies will receive US$3 million and Zimbabwe US$1.5 million over the next three years.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have intentions to spend the money on supporting their veteran players and many of the future talents that are yet to rise up and represent their country.
“We are delighted to be signing a TAPP agreement with the ICC, and are grateful for this enhanced support to help WICB achieve our high performance objectives,” WICB President Julian Hunte said. “We have started to make progress on the field over the past year and this support will allow us to build on that by investing more resources than ever in the development of emerging talent in the West Indies.”
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, will use the money they receive to allow their ‘A’ team to play more matches, as well as identify and support future prospects.
Zimbabwe Cricket managing director, Wilfred Mukondiwa, noted that the funds would help the country become more competitive at the international level.
“Zimbabwe Cricket is grateful for this support and looking forward to being able to strengthen our high performance pathway with this investment,” he said. “We believe the TAPP award will help us become more competitive in the international arena and facilitate the continued growth of the game in our country.”
ICC chief executive David Richardson stated that he was awaiting to see the results of the funds on both countries.
“It is very important to the long-term prosperity of international cricket that we have competitive teams at the highest level and both the West Indies and Zimbabwe have been very clear in identifying the factors that will support improved performance,” Richardson said. “The TAPP agreements provide an opportunity for both Members to increase their investment in high performance and we look forward to witnessing the impact of these programmes.”