DP World and Chris Gayle deliver kits and changing room for Barbados Girls Cricket Club

West Indies’ cricket legend Chris Gayle unveiled shipping container as a female changing space for the Barbados Royals Girls Cricket Club

PRESS RELEASE

Bridgetown, Barbados, 28 June 2024: As the ICC Men's T20 World Cup reaches its climax, DP World has brought its logistics expertise to the island nation of Barbados to deliver a unique shipping container that will open the sport to young girls who want to join the action.

West Indies cricket legend Chris Gayle unveiled a beautifully painted, repurposed container at Friendship Playing Field in Barbados’ St Michael parish, where it will serve as a female changing space for the Barbados Royals Girls Cricket Club. The new facility will address a significant barrier for girls’ cricket in the area. 

This is all under DP World’s Beyond Boundaries Initiative to empower communities through improved access to cricket. Launched in October 2023, DP World has used its global network and logistics capabilities to deliver 2,250 kits transported in nine repurposed shipping containers to grassroots organisations across five countries on three continents.

The Barbados container launch builds on deliveries in India, South Africa, Dubai and most recently the United States. Each container is adorned with a unique mural designed by a local artist -- a tribute to DP World’s global ambassador Sachin Tendulkar – reflecting the community that the container will serve. Santrio Creative, a collective of three brothers – Nikolai, Sergio and Alexei Charles – designed the artwork in Barbados.

The two-time ICC Men’s T20 World Cup winner, spoke at the event and helped distribute kits to young cricketers from Barbados Royals Girls Cricket Club and Franklyn Stephenson Academy. The kits provided under the initiative will be the first ever set the girls have owned.

DP World partnered with ‘Bat For A Chance’ a charity which aims to help underprivileged children across the world experience the joys of cricket, partnering with schools, clubs and academies including several in Barbados and the wider Caribbean. The Barbados Cricket Association will assist with wider distribution of kits. 

Chris Gayle said: “As a product of the grassroots system here in the Caribbean, I know firsthand the value of support like that provided by the Beyond Boundaries Initiative. It is fantastic to see DP World use the full scale of its global network to offer support at every level of the game, now bringing the initiative to Barbados where it will improve the lives of young people on the island and provide a solid footing for an important pocket of West Indian cricket.”

DP World has pledged a further 820 kits to the initiative via the kits-for-runs scheme across T20 World Cup matches.For every 100 runs scored by a team in each match, DP World has pledged another 10 kits, building upon the 2,250 kits delivered through the same scheme at last year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.

Anurag Dahiya, ICC Chief Commercial Officersaid, “As this thrilling T20 World Cup reaches its climax here in Barbados, we are delighted to see DP World’s continued support for the game’s grassroots delivered to another region. We have seen DP World’s kits-for-runs scheme throughout this tournament, and we know from the global roll-out of this initiative that the 820 kits pledged will benefit aspiring cricketers across the world.”

Daniel van Otterdijk, Group Chief Communications Officer, DP World said, “As a Premier Partner of the ICC, we are proud to lend our support to growing the game through our Beyond Boundaries Initiative. We’ve leveraged our smart solutions and global network to take cricket kits and equipment to grassroots organisations in India, South Africa, USA, UAE and now in Barbados to make cricket accessible for all. Girls’ cricket is also on the rise, but support is still needed to open it to more players. So, we are proud to help support the Barbados Royals Girls Cricket Club, with our repurposed container and hope it can be put to good use as a much-needed changing facility.”

For media enquiries, please contact: Adal Mirza (Group Vice President, Media Relations) at Adal.mirza@dpworld.com or Charlie Mottram (160/90, DP World Sports Partnerships Agency) at cmottram@160over90.com