St.John's (Antigua), Sep 14 (IANS): The headquarter of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is to be relocated to another venue in Antigua early in the New Year, WICB president Dave Cameron has announced.

The head office, currently located in St John's, will be moved to the Stanford Cricket Ground at Coolidge, north east of the city here, following the joint acquisition of the ground by the WICB and the Antigua & Barbuda government, reports CMC.

Cameron says he expects the acquisition to be completed early next year but says work could start on improving the facility before the deal is done.

"Whether we acquire the stadium, and irrespective of the timeline, we are looking at starting to improve the park so that we can use it next year," Cameron was quoted by the Antigua Observer as saying on Tuesday.

"It will become the home of West Indies cricket."

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne first announced the joint acquisition while addressing an event to celebrate WICB's 90th year of recognition by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Antigua earlier this year.

PM Browne said negotiations were continuing with the Stanford liquidator to acquire the Stanford Cricket Ground, valued at $6 million.

"We will lease the restaurant, because that's not the business we're in, and the idea is to create a cricket experience upstairs for tourists and of course, our islanders from Antigua and Barbuda and surrounding islands," said Cameron.

"The head office will be re-located there and we ideally want to make that our home within Antigua and Barbuda".

The Antiguan government has promised to underwrite up to 50 percent of the cost of the acquisition.