President of the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) Larry Romany wants to see the popular T20 version of cricket at the Olympics. He made the comment at the T&T Cricket Board’s (TTCB) 56th annual prize-giving ceremony on Saturday night at the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce Building in Couva. Romany said: “I would love to see cricket included in the Olympics and realistically I think by 2020 this can be done. The T20 form in the short version of the game and it is very popular, so I see no reason why it should not be included.” Romany added that if the sport is to be played at the Olympics and adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it will receive a major boost in its development drive. “I have studied this and I can tell you that the International Cricket Council (ICC) gives between US$1m and US$2m for development of cricket in the Americas. Which means this sum has to take care of North America, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean region.“I don’t know how many of you know that cricket is played in places like Chile and Argentina. So it’s a vast area to take care of with a little bit of the money. On the other hand, the IOC gives US$100m for the development of Olympic sports in the Americas. A big difference, so cricket will do well to get a place at the Olympics and start getting that wad of money for development.”
Romany also praised the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) for the state of cricket in this country and said that although there are eight players from Trinidad and Tobago on the West Indies team, we must not only be concerned by that. He said that they must not be seen as T&T players but rather West Indies players and this is the only way that the team can move forward and do well.
“I like the statement made by West Indies captain Daren Sammy recently. He said ‘it’s one people, one team,’ and by this he is suggesting that the players are all one and the unity is there. This is critical in any team doing well.”
By Vinode Mamchan
Source: www.guardian.co.tt