THE legendary Clive Lloyd yesterday joined the list of “Champions for Change” fighting stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS even as he fights to see the West Indies make it to the semi-finals of Cricket World Cup (CWC), albeit saying “let’s hope God smiles on us”.

He said the West Indies team are under a lot of pressure to become the first host to win the World Cup, saying the players are not “seasoned professionals” and need to understand the pride of playing for the West Indies.

Lloyd, the cricket icon who captained the West Indies team in winning the World Cup the first two times it was held, 1975 and 1979, was conferred with the title “Champion for Change” by Caribbean Community(CARICOM) Secretary General Mr. Edwin Carrington at the community’s secretariat, Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.

The “Champions for Change” initiative is one by CARICOM and the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS (PANCAP) with support from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. It is primarily geared at reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.

The initiative began in 2003 in St. Kitts and Nevis at which yet another distinguished West Indian cricketer – Courtney Walsh – was designated a Champion for Change.

Lloyd, a Guyanese, being conferred with the title means that he will help to engage cricketers and other sports persons on stigma and discrimination and will be expected to stimulate positive response worldwide to reduce HIV and AIDS.

The cricketing legend said he sincerely hopes to play a “great” part in reducing the spread of the disease and will put forward to the West Indies Cricket Board that part of the proceeds of all one day matches go to HIV/AIDS associations.

Carrington recognised Lloyd as a man of dignity, saying he was a role model and it was an honour for him to confer the title of “Champion for Change”.

The brief ceremony, however, took a good bite at the West Indies’ poor performance, the team having lost their three games thus far in the Super Eight round, and facing the uphill task of winning the next three games to squeeze into the semi-finals.

Lloyd, the team coordinator, said the performance of the team was disappointing, but added that some members of the team haven’t played a lot of cricket and the challenge is to help them realise their roles.

He agreed that the Sri Lankans showed greater commitment to the game Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence when the home side played before the biggest crowd in the tournament thus far, but lost dismally.

Lloyd reflected that in his early days he used to stand with his scrap book outside the Georgetown Cricket Club trying to identify the cricketers and dreaming to be like them.

He said he “sincerely” hopes that the young players on the West Indies will have the same pride. Lloyd said West Indies cricket has a long way to go, with a number of “obstacles” to overcome and he hopes to be part of the upward trend.

He expressed confidence that West Indians are still willing to give the home side the support.