A welcomed addition for cricket

The planned introduction of a junior secondary schools’ cricket competition must be a welcomed addition to the local agenda of the sport.

It is a case of better late than never, as there has been continued slippage in the fortunes of St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Windward Islands Under-15 competitions.{{more}}

In fact, over the last decade, St Vincent and the Grenadines has been the prime candidate for last place at the annual outing.

Also, at best, two Vincentian players will proceed on to the Windwards team for the West Indies tournament, further confirming St Vincent and the Grenadines’ position among the four-island grouping.

On the contrary, when the North Leeward Sports Association had staged its Under-15 competition during the 1990’s, St Vincent and the Grenadines was a potent force in the Windwards,

as there was that ready-made talent identification roster to fill the national team.

Although efforts were made to fill the void left by the absence of the invaluable North Leeward input, through the staging of a Zonal Under-15 tournament, this proved to be an exercise in futility, as it was poorly organized.

This, too, is also against the reality that cricket is no longer the goto sport among pre-teens, so the rate of attrition is accelerated, as the numbers entering the fray and staying with it become more visible.

Of significance as well, locally and regionally, the game does not carry that attraction and star appeal which would make youngsters readily gravitate towards it.

And, despite the glitter and the financial makings of the Twenty/20 game internationally, through the various franchise competitions, the task is still difficult to get young people to make cricket their first love.

When bundled, it is clear from the many outcomes over the years from the competitions, that an Under-15 set-up among the schools was the missing bridge that was needed to provide that transition from the fun type Kiddy cricket experience at the primary school age group.

Such a competition, however, does not necessarily translate to instant success and a reverse in the places, but it is a start at least.

In putting the absent pieces of the puzzle together, local cricket authorities will have another resource pool to identify, nurture and hopefully optimize on such talents.

Here is where the work begins, the proper coaching, as well as solidifying and modifying all the development systems which are in place.

The onus lies on the technical personnel within the Division of Physical Education and Sports, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association and the teams which compete in the national programme to have a keen eye out for talent emerging from the schools’ Under-15 competition.

This is critical, as such abilities should be filtered and fine-tuned so that players would develop systematically as they head to the next age group tournament, namely Under-19, and the next rung – the senior national team.

The young players’ cricketing abilities should not be the end of it all, as the other facets such as knowledge of the sport, discipline, tactics, and deportment, among others should be preached and instilled at this stage.

But it is well and good to say that Under-15 cricket is on the national plate, but the real meat of the matter is to get palatable results from the efforts, in terms of making a dent on the prospects for future cricketing achievements.

Therefore, having secured sponsorship from the Bank of Nova Scotia, the task now for all stakeholders is to give that corporate partner value for its money by their efficient administration of the competition.

This is timely, for although the senior segment of the secondary schools’ competition has had the long-standing financial support from United Insurance, one cannot say that the execution of the exercise has been commendable.

Part of the reshaping process of our cricket has begun, through the U-15 schools’ tournament; not that it will be the panacea, but it is a start to get things fixed.