KEYNOTE Speaker at the 2009 St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association (SVGCA) Presentation Ceremony, Dr. Linton Lewis, pins the development of Cricket here on three pillars: “Fraternity, Identity and Continuity”.{{more}}

Lewis, last Friday evening, at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown, was speaking on the topic “The future of Cricket in SVG depends on a vibrant club structure”.

Acknowledging the decline in clubs which today are merely teams, Lewis sees the term fraternity as one of the important pillars.

“A club is like a fraternity in which a feeling of brotherly and sisterly love exists, where mutual respect and mutual support are encouraged and where there is a code of conduct and a governing document called a constitution which seeks to regulate the relationship among members and between the members and the Executive that is appointed to manage the affairs of the club,” Lewis, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards, Combined Islands and West Indies Under-19 opener, said.

He continued: “The mechanisms to impose sanctions on those who transgress are in place and, hopefully, this will augur well for a more disciplined and well ordered organization. There will be regular meetings and records are required to be kept of the activities and functions of the club so that members can be apprised of the club’s operations where appropriate so to do.”

With these in train, Lewis, who is also a certified accountant, proffered: “Identity now becomes of great importance, as persons can now be galvanized around an institution that may well be unique in the manner in which it functions or even in the success that it enjoys. It is from this pool of people from the community that a fan club can be established, encouraged and promoted”.

This he believes, once established, will have the “positive psychological effect of motivating the players and rekindling the interest of Cricket and the spirit of togetherness”.

“Such a healthy state of affairs can effectively result in better performances from the players and ultimately improve the level of cricket throughout the country,” Lewis, who is also Chairman of the opposition New Democratic Party reasoned.

A former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Under-19 goalkeeper, Lewis, in his chronological exposition, expounded on his last pillar ‘Continuity’.

“With an improved community spirit and a greater need to participate and identify with the positive features of a club structure, persons of all ages will be willing to become members. The greater the number of members and the more varied their ages, the more challenging the work of the members of the club,” he advanced.

Lewis then anticipated: “Coaching sessions for young persons may well become a necessity; the need to have more than one team and even teams of different ages may well become a reality and the need for greater financing to fund those activities becomes an interesting proposition.”

“At least there will be established a cadre of cricketers of different ages being prepared to take up the mantle to represent their clubs when called upon so to do,” Lewis said.

Lewis believes that will help alleviate teams turning up with fewer that stipulated number for their matches.

“If only our cricketers can focus on the words Fraternity, Identity and Continuity within the context of a club structure it may not be the panacea for cricket in this country but at least it will lay the foundation for future generations of cricketers to regain the lost glory and reclaim our successful past as world class international cricketers,” Lewis, a right handed batsman known for his fidgety idiosyncrasies, projected.(RT)