The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Sport England today confirmed that the permanent site of the new ECB National Academy will be Loughborough University, an English Institute of Sport site.

The decision follows meetings of Sport England's Council and its Lottery Awards Panel and the ECB's Management Board, at which a budget of £4m was approved for the capital costs of the project.

In total a budget of £4.4m is needed for the development of residential accommodation as well as for the building of a new indoor cricket centre. The finance will come from Sport England and from Loughborough University. Building work on the facilities will begin as soon as possible although no time-scale has yet been set for the completion.

The National Academy concept began in October this year and the first intake of students is currently training in Adelaide, at the home of the Australian National Academy, under the guidance of National Academy Director Rodney Marsh.

Hugh Morris, ECB Performance Director, said: "I am delighted that the go-ahead for Loughborough University has been given. It will not only act as a training centre for the National Academy but also for all of our national age-group teams throughout the year, and it offers the ideal environment for the development of our next generation of international cricketers and high performance coaches.

"With two outdoor cricket pitches, grass nets and a new indoor centre, the facilities will be first class, but Loughborough also offers high quality sports science and medicine provision which is essential for today's top athletes and coaches.

"In addition Loughborough hosts over 250 elite athletes from athletics, swimming, tennis, badminton, netball and football, thereby providing a unique opportunity for our players to interact with top quality performers from other sports. Our coaches will be able to share 'best practice' with their counterparts too.

"Whilst this announcement represents a big step forward, there is still much work to be done. It is not yet known when the infrastructure at Loughborough will be complete, therefore we still need to remain flexible with our plans for the National Academy programme for the 2002-3 winter."

Trevor Brooking, chair of Sport England said: "The ECB's decision to develop the National Cricket Academy at Loughborough has been formally supported by the Sport England Lottery Panel and the Sports Council and will become a welcome addition to the English Institute of Sport's (EIS) network of high performance training facilities.

"Sport England has already invested over £21m at Loughborough University to create a major regional base for the EIS by funding world class facilities for swimming, hockey, netball, badminton, gymnastics and athletics. Elite competitors in the region will be able to access a range of sports medicine and sports science support services through the EIS on-site.

"We look forward to working with the ECB and the University to develop this unique facility for the next generation of Test cricketers.

"The Academy squad, currently training in Australia, has already achieved good results on and off the pitch and is supported through the World Class revenue funding programme. The establishment of the National Cricket Academy is an important step towards developing a successful Test team for the future."

Dr Guy Jackson, Director of Cricket at Loughborough University, who has been leading negotiations with ECB Performance Director Hugh Morris, said: "Clearly we're very pleased with the announcement, which further cements our working relationship with the ECB. More importantly in cricket terms we feel, as do ECB, that young England cricketers aspiring to Test level can really benefit from the Loughborough University location which provides for interaction between coaching at the highest level and world class sports science, in a supportive 'performance environment'.

"We are confident that Loughborough can provide an excellent site for ECB to develop the next generation of Test cricketers. Its existing facilities along with the new Sport England investment and ECB's coaching structure will provide a truly world class Academy base."

© England & Wales Cricket Board