Cricket bosses hope a great West Indian game will take root in the USA as a result of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and to make sure it happens they have looked to a great player who has done the same.
 Gibbs (centre) hopes big-time cricket will blossom in Florida |
Lance Gibbs took the last of his 309 Test wickets in 1976 and settled soon afterwards in south Florida. He played just a single World Cup match when, as a 40-year-old he was part of the West Indies squad that carried off the inaugural trophy in 1975.
Now the Guyanese is chairman of a bid from the city of Lauderhill, 30 miles north of Miami, to host matches in the ninth edition of the tournament, which will be hosted by the West Indies.
Contrary to early reports, there is no connection to Disney World, which is based north Florida.
Gibbs and his group hope to bring big-time cricket to this suburb by building a stadium with a capacity of 35,000 - more than half the population of Lauderhill itself.
 |  The soccer World Cup was the biggest money-spinner ever and I see cricket being not far away from that |
It is on course to be ready by 2005, with plenty of time to satisfy inspectors from the International Cricket Council that it meets regulations. "In the Lauderhill area we've got 109 acres of land and the mayor and governor have put in around $40m [�22.66m] in order to make this a success," he told the BBC Sport website.
"We would be in a group probably with Jamaica and some of the other countries close by.
"The soccer World Cup was the biggest money-spinner ever and I see cricket being not far away from that."
Detailed requirements for hosting matches in 2007 will be distributed next February, and the 12 candidates must fight it out for 51 matches.
Gibbs, who works in the shipping business and organises his appointments around the Caribbean to coincide with big games, has been impressed by the revamping of stadiums that has already begun.
But he points out that the bigger country to the north has one big advantage.
 How the host committee hope the Lauderhill stadium will look |
"I know the West Indies board have got a good chance of making a fair amount of money if it's played here in the US of A." There are around 10,000 cricketers in the US, mostly ex-pats from the West Indies, India and Pakistan.
Gibbs is not overly worried about courting fans from America's established sports but keen to tap into the interest that already exists, and exploit the potential for tourism.
"We're hoping to have teams coming out here to train during the English winter," Gibbs adds.
"We're hoping to have games [involving] Pakistan and India because there are a lot of people from the Third World that live here and they're pretty keen on cricket."
Those same fans and players carry American hopes that their own national team will be one of the 16 taking part in the showpiece event.
The USA is taking part in next February's ICC Six Nations Challenge, the winner of which will take on Test nations in the ICC Champions Trophy in England next September. "Fellas come up here to better themselves and don't dedicate the time necessary to reach the top in cricket," Gibbs adds.
"Youngsters are starting to catch on to it, especially those from the Third World with a cricketing background.
"We could start them off and then blend Americans into it."
Cricket may never capture the heart of America, but it is intent on entertaining a sizeable minority.
MMIX
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