The Cricket fraternity in Bequia is calling on the relevant authorities to grant them one small favour, and that is to provide them with an alternative place to hone their cricketing skills.{{more}}

Making that call on behalf of those involved in the sport on the nine square mile Grenadine isle is Public Relations Officer of the Bequia Cricket Committee Relton John.

The call is for the existing Paget Farm Playing Field to be fitted with a cricket pitch.

“We just need a start to get a second ground,” John pleaded with passion.

The Paget Farm Playing Field is without a doubt the largest area of land assigned for a playing field in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the venue recently, it was overrun with grass, with the full-sized football field and the hard court evidently in need of a facelift.

The venue can easily house another football and cricket field without interrupting each other.

“All we are asking for is some help in getting another cricket pitch on that field,” John reiterated.

John told SEARCHLIGHT that members of the D’ Graduates team, one of the 11 teams registered in the 2009 Hairoun Beer-sponsored competition, had cleared a plot of land adjoining the JF Mitchell airport, as a practice area, but that was subsequently used for motor racing.

“There is a practice strip in the Paget Farm School yard, but this is inadequate,” he added.

Speaking of the overwhelming interest in cricket on the island, John said: “The interest in cricket is growing at a rapid rate”.

“We have youngsters at the Paget Farm Primary School who won the last Primary Schools’ Kiddy Cricket Competition,” John stated as he reinforced his point.

Evidence of this growth in interest in cricket, also, is the yearly increase in teams participating in the annual Bequia competition.

“We were forced to play three matches on Sundays to speed up the competition,” John complained.

“We have had some promises from several quarters but nothing to date has happened,” he further contended.

And, John is soliciting any assistance to meet his association and the cricket-loving public of Bequia’s immediate needs.

John, though, was thankful to one resident on the island who made her mower available free of cost to the association, which aided immensely in getting the Clive Tannis Playing Field cut in a timely and efficient manner.

The Clive Tannis Playing Field, the island’s lone active playing field, is certainly not enough to cater to the demands of the growing sports enthusiasts, particularly in the field of cricket.

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association last year funded a project to erect a concrete strip at the Clive Tannis facility, but that, too, according to one cricketer, is dressed with deficiencies, and is badly positioned.