Cricket gets out for a duck

With just about a month to go before the 2022/2023 academic starts, there is still no word from the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Inc. of any cricket development programme.

This column has to be displaced in time, out of touch with happenings or blind, to know that there is no undertaking at this time of year, to have our prospective next generation of cricketers engaged in some type of enhancement or introductory cricket exercise.

Or, just maybe, this column is not aware that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ youth Cricket programme is in such good standings, that there is absolutely no need to have camps while our students are home on their long August vacation.

But it is almost certain that some coach or coaches in some neck of the Vincentian landscape, would have taken an initiative in his/her community to conduct some form of cricket coaching.

It is not a case of “follow fashion” but football, netball, track and field, karate, table tennis, basketball, squash and other sporting disciplines have embraced wisdom as well as a grasp of development and rightly so, provide outlets to ensure that it takes place.

Instructively, the SVGCA Inc. has the resources at hand. There are available certified coaches who undoubtedly are ready and willing to share and impart their knowledge to the prospective cricketers.

Most significantly, unlike most of our other national sporting associations and federations, it is not begging its bread, nor is it “hand to mouth”.

Therefore, there can be no excuse or reason for neglecting that critical component.

Then, are the decision makers and holders of positions on the executive too consumed with the hosting of regional tournaments?

We need these tournaments, as there are multiple economic spin-offs for the country and to the coffers of the SVGCA.

To the executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Inc., a building is not erected from the top, but from the foundation.

You must be reminded as well, that cricket, as a mass sport, is losing its base, and doing so with lightning speed.

Additionally, we are seeing other sporting disciplines becoming more attractive to some of our promising cricketers.

Unfortunately, the persons with the positions to shape and guide cricket and scaffold it, are not paying attention to the warning signs and red flags which are emerging daily.

The loss of appeal for cricket has been compounded by the disappearance of the Kiddy Cricket programme in the primary schools.

There is sufficient narrative to suggest that the programme was a platform for the development and honing of some basic cricket skills.

Undoubtedly, that programme aided many to transition into professional status, able to live from the proceeds of their taking.

The untimely demise of the Kiddy Cricket programme here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, has left a void in offering that insight into the sport and a spark in its interest.

So, there is not meaningful cricket in the primary schools, there is no decisive action (nor plans on paper) being taken to get youngsters interested in the sport.

Where do we expect to get our next generation of cricketers, as love for the sport must be sparked at a young age?

We cannot rely on players just coming out of the woodwork, as there is no cricket culture and attractions to lure the youth to the sport.

It is a double ask to get youth into cricket, as they would not readily jump and get the passion and fire for it. Yes, and it is highly commendable, that the SVGCA Inc. has realized the erection of cricket nets in some parts of the country. However, this can be counter-productive, and be relegated to white elephants if the youngsters are not frequenting them, getting a knock-up, through the guidance of senior players or coaches.

Cricket must be re-ignited in communities; the sport must be taken to them, as we are seeing, they are not going towards it.

So as the light fades on the school vacation, there is not need for the DRS, as the entire executive of the SVGCA Inc. has been given out for a duck by the on field umpire.