CASTRIES, St. Lucia, (CMC) – Roland Butcher, the director of sports at the University of the West Indies, said that the Combined Campus & Colleges will become a more diverse side in the very near future.

The Barbados-born, former England batsman hailed the steady progress of the side over the last four years since entering regional competitions, culminating in a place in the Final of this year’s WICB Regional first-class championship.

But he acknowledged that the talent pool was a little narrow at the moment, and there were plans to widen the search for players in the coming year.

“You have got to be at the main campuses that make up UWI and other similar institutions in the region and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States,” he said. “It’s quite a big area to cover.

“Obviously, there is a concentration at the moment in a number of areas, but the intention certainly is to spread it as far and as wide as possible to try and find the best talent to represent the CCC.”

He added: “Once that happens, you will see a lot more players being exposed from perhaps some of the areas you don’t see them from at the moment.

“In May, we have our inter-collegiate competition in Barbados, which is a Twenty20 competition, so we will get the opportunity to see the talent that’s available.

“Floyd Reifer, the coach, is a technical development officer of the West Indies Cricket Board, and one of his duties is to find the talent to represent the CCC.”

Butcher, who had the distinction of being the first coloured player to represent England, felt the CCC had now become an attractive proposition for young players in the region keen on continuing their education.

“More and more people want to come and study and get involved in the programme,” he said.

“More and more people are trying to sign up for one of these institutions.

“I think this is a good thing because we want to encourage as many people to play this game as much as possible.”

Butcher noted that the results, which the side has gained, particularly during the last first-class competition, leave no question about its place in the regional structure.

“They have beaten all the sides in the competition over the period of time,” he said.

“This year was particularly impressive where they had a very good season finishing at top of the group stage after seven rounds of matches.”

He continued: “Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be in the Final against Jamaica, but nobody expected them to get to the Final, when the season started.

“Perhaps, they didn’t even expect it themselves. To achieve this, I think it is a great performance, and is something for them to aspire towards in the coming seasons.”

Butcher’s comments came when he was in St. Lucia recently to manage the UWI Vice Chancellor’s XI against the touring Pakistanis at the Mindoo Phillip Park.

The Vice Chancellor’s XI, led by Omar Phillips, the CCC captain, also included several players that excelled for the composite side this year.

“It was a good opportunity for the young players to be involved in such a game like this against an international side,” said Butcher.

“Pakistan is a fairly young side, but they have some very good players. It was a good experience.

“We didn’t win the game, but the players would have learnt from the experience of batting and bowling against a side like that.”