By GREGG WYCHERLEY AND NZPA
A New Zealand entrepreneur who was once expelled from his private school is donating $1 million to help young cricketers.
Michael Watt, who made his fortune brokering television sports deals, will give the money as long as his name is not used in the title of the youth cricket academy.
Instead, he wants the academy named after former New Zealand test star Bert Sutcliffe, one of the best batsmen of the 1950s and named by cricket bible Wisden in 1950 as one of its players of the year.
Mr Watt, a multimillionaire who lives in Britain and the United States, has already given $750,000 to the New Zealand Cricket Academy in Christchurch.
He also helped to bankroll the Black Caps at the last World Cup.
Watt was expelled from Christ's College in Christchurch at the age of 16.
He went on to found CSI, an international television sports broadcaster.
When the Herald spoke to him in 1996, he said he had lived in 15 countries, working at everything from bellhop to waiting on tables in New York.
Watt is a keen music fan and jazz fanatic who owns a collection of paintings by legendary trumpeter Miles Davis.
He was an investor in pop star Michael Jackson's HIStory world tour and founded The Big Events Company to run tours.
CSI has now merged to become OctagonCSI.
While Watt has given some of his considerable fortune to support New Zealand cricket, he is resisting attempts by administrators Chris Doig and John Anderson to put his name to the youth academy.
Phil Lenton, who is in charge of Watt's international donations, said: "True philanthropists do not attach their name to the donations."
Watt has also supported cricket projects in townships in South Africa, among other causes.
He is due to attend a press conference at the Christchurch academy on Monday and an under-19 New Zealand v South Africa match.
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