Rain check for SVGCA

The local cricket season is almost at an end.

Yet again this season was one in which persons simply did enough to maintain their places on the national teams and keep their names on the radio and the newspapers.{{more}}

No new talent seems to have emerged, and this is a worrying trend.

As it is, it is a re-shuffling of the pack, and then we complain of the declining standards of our Cricket.

Therefore, it is not that Cricket needs urgent attention, but open heart surgery must be prescribed for the ailing patient.

The RBTT ‘Premier Division’, used here guardedly, should be the pinnacle of our Cricket, where the best of the best should be on show. But, this is far from the case.

Such is the standard of that Division, that eight centuries were scored – five against Packers United, two against Victors Two, and one each against Police One and Police Two.

These four teams are in the bottom half of the table, so do you see my point?

Conversely, one should ask ourselves, why are centuries rarely scored against teams such as Radcliffe, Rivals, Victors One and Spartans?

This strengthens an earlier call I made to have five teams in the Premier Division and play two rounds of matches, on a home and away basis, with bonus points for both batting and bowling.

Packers United, for example, on most occasions were fielding fewer than the maximum eleven players. So, their opponents were feasting on the numerical disadvantage, whilst putting themselves statistically in the eyes of the selectors.

Hopefully, they are not score book selectors, but those who look at the matches and clinically see how players compile their runs and the relative strength of the opposition.

Personally, I would disregard these hundreds when it relates to national selection. They should only be for statistical purposes.

With the Premier Division being the main catchment, fewer persons are becoming certainties on the Windwards Senior team.

This is against perceived idea that organized Cricket in the other three Windward Islands is not as structured as ours.

The Bottlers First Division needs a look into also, as there are teams there who just use Cricket for recreational purposes.

President Julian Jack and company, why not create a Sunday League or a one day competition for these guys and others of the same ilk who just want to keep kit and have some Cricket fun?

What about that much touted Development Plan? How much of it has been realized?

The Executive of the SVGCA seems at times rudderless as regards development, as there is not a definitive path towards taking young cricketers from one stage to the other.

And, whenever there is some progress, invariably, it is by sheer personal interest rather than structured engagement of documented ideas from the guardians of Cricket.

The current Executive SVGCA has blindfolded itself from Cricket at the local level and is only interested in putting on a good show whenever an international team comes to town, when they can get props.

They have closed one eye and shut tight the other, when it comes to Women’s Cricket.

Imagine for a country which has won the regional Cricket Competition and is seen as a force in this gender of the sport in the Caribbean, that fewer players are getting involved and nothing is being done to address this occurrence.

In fact, only three teams participated in the 2010 local competition!

Set to host the West Indies Women’s Tournament in a few days time, St. Vincent and the Grenadines will be turning out several players who have been there for many years.

Was the last Under-19 team just for participation sake only?

Therefore, what is being done from the level of the Executive of the SVGCA to ensure that new players come through? Seemingly nothing, as neither development nor competitions are priority!

There is also no priority for the Mound at the Sion Hill Playing Field.