Hard work brings success

Fri Sep 05, 2014

Editor: Kindly permit me a small space in your paper to give my views on “Women Cricket in SVG”.

Getting the best of the best female cricketers to represent SVG in the regional West Indies tournament has been a challenge for the selectors and SVGCB over the years, with this year seeing some improvement in the areas of fitness and training.{{more}}

Having seven weeks of preparation from 24 selectees to 18 selectees to 14 selectees for the tournament in Dominica, the best was chosen. This tournament had a group A and a group B, with SVG being in group A with St Lucia, Guyana, and Jamaica, and group B having Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

SVG won over St Lucia in their first game and lost the next two and that has been a trend, winning over the Windward Islands and losing to the “bigger countries”.

However, having five new inexperienced members on the team with six well experienced and three semi- experienced members (no offence intended) shows that there is still hope for our National Women’s Cricket team in the years to come.

This year has shown great leadership skills amongst the new coach, the new manager and the captain. The coach was impartial, the captain giving individuals the opportunity to prove themselves one way or the other, the manager…not just the head of the team, but a friend to everyone on the team which made it much easier to gel and devotion was a MUST.

The “professionals” who had worked along with the team before leaving our shores deeply believed that the team wouldn’t win. I didn’t believe they would have won either, such belief was proved.

The team didn’t win the overall tournament, but placed fifth of the eight competing territories, with three Vincentians getting player of the match in certain games and that’s an achievement compared to years gone by with the exception of 2010 where SVG had placed second to Trinidad and Tobago here in SVG at Arnos Vale Playing Field.

I tip my hat off to the new executive, the new coach and the new manager on a good job done. I tip my hat off also to one of our outstanding female cricketers, who did extremely well locally and her best regionally this year. Having retired from regional cricket this year, I know she would pass on her experiences to the future national team.

Hard work may not bring 100% success but it does bring some form of success. “SVG NEVER GIVE UP.”

KC