Softball cricketers forewarned

Players, who have a tendency to bring into disrepute the various softball cricket competitions across St Vincent and the Grenadines, and get off with a tap on the wrist, may just have to rethink.{{more}}

Interim president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Softball Cricket Association Israel Bruce, in his response to recent trends, has sent a strong warning to those would-be ill-disciplined players.

Speaking at the closing of the 2015 St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Co-operative Credit Union Clinchers Sports Club’s competition last Sunday at the Richland Park Oval, Bruce warned the players that they would not be allowed to misbehave in one tournament, be banned, then move onto another tournament.

“No, that will never happen…..If you are found to have brought the game into disrepute in one tournament, you will be banned from every tournament, so take heed,” Bruce affirmed.

His comments came in light of a few infractions which occurred in this year’s competition, including one which took place in last Sunday’s final between Gairy’s Construction Simple Boyz and Country Meets Town Outa Trouble One.

Such incidents were brought to the attention of the sponsors, whose president Junior Simmons chose on Sunday to address the developments which were publicised through an online media source.

“As sponsors of the tournament, I would say here categorically that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour … The sport of cricket is a gentleman’s game and you ought to behave yourselves on the field … I want the players to respect each other,” Simmons said.

Simmons noted that their resilience must come in light of the fact that “there will be challenges and disputes.”

Apart from Bruce and Simmons, vice-president of the Clinchers Sports Club Rohan Giles, in his remarks, also registered the organization’s displeasure and zero tolerance for ill-discipline in the softball cricket competition.

“This year, there were serious breaches of the competition’s rules, with some players and their team representatives going way overboard…I take this opportunity to let these teams know that a good team with players with bad attitude will invariably have a negative impact on any competition,” Giles expressed.

“We will all agree that the competition is paramount and therefore, if these teams are not willing to conform to the rules and regulations of this tournament, that they not be part of the event … Please be advised that the committee will be moving to revise the regulations so as to bring stiffer penalties to teams which are found to be in breach… That kind of behaviour will not be tolerated here,” warned Giles.

But amidst the concerns from the speakers, Smart Strikers proved to be the best example of good behaviour among the 21 teams that participated in the competition, as they were adjudged the Most Disciplined Team.