Tony Becca | Think again, president Heaven

After many, many years of sportswriting mixed with a little administration, I wish I could correct at least one of my mistakes over those years, and that is my part in the coming of the islandwide cricket competition.

In the 1980s, I was part of a movement to change the Senior Cup cricket competition in Jamaica, to move it from a city-based competition to an islandwide competition involving the parishes.

In the beginning, the competition went well, as expected. Shortly after that, however, things started happening.

The cost of an islandwide competition was discussed at meetings with the parishes leading up to the start, and they all said that that would be no problem.

Shortly afterwards, however, after two or three years, as the cost of participation hit home, the parishes, one by one, went to the then Jamaica Cricket Board asking for help.

The competition gradually declined as some teams eventually failed to show up for matches, some failed to show up with full teams, some played youngsters who were not good enough, and some had nowhere to train and practise.

At one stage, the competition was so weak that the board, in its bid to save the quality of the competition, split the teams into two groups with a promotion and demotion format, before, because of pressure from the parishes, retreating, after a couple of years, into not only one big competition again, but it also brought in three other teams.

Today, most of the teams, clubs, parishes, and institutions can hardly compete due to a lack of funding, playing ability, and somewhere if only to train and to practise.

Today, if I could correct a mistake from the past, I would certainly come up with a different proposal.

Today, I would still fight for a bigger Senior Cup competition, one open to all the parishes, but I would also fight for one in which participation would be limited to those parishes that met certain requirements such as home grounds, money to cover match expenses, and a minimum level of competence at cricket.

Today, those things have not changed. Those things, certainly among others, are what is affecting the development of Jamaica's cricket, and the question is this, will they ever change?

It does not seem so, and it is because the will is not there.

 

THE MORE THE MERRIER

 

The attitude of "the more, the merrier" seems to be so prevalent these days that it is hard to see things changing without some drastic changes in the attitudes of those in charge.

There are two kinds of cricket. One is played for fun; one is played professionally or internationally. And while cricket for fun should be for the majority, for the masses, professional cricket, or international cricket, should be reserved for the best, which is, for the gifted few.

To pursue professional cricket, or international cricket, is where development is important, and that is where the better players should play together and compete together in teams with good equipment, good coaching and mentoring, in good facilities, in good conditions, and for long periods as happens in other countries, and club cricket is the answer.

Last year, the JCA ventured into a so-called "franchise" system in which they pulled together players from the clubs and parishes, put them into teams, and left them without a home, a place to talk cricket, a place to train and practise.

And recently, Billy Heaven said something that is cause for concern.

On Sunday evening, February 18, Heaven, the president of the JCA, said on television that the JCA had started a franchise tournament to fall in line with the norm everywhere and that he was hoping that more teams would enter the Senior Cup competition because that was the way the world was going.

International cricket, he said, was franchise-driven, and international cricket was not interested in clubs, only in players.

Maybe, just maybe, Heaven is right, but then the world would equally be misguided.

Heaven surely was not right when he said that international cricket was now franchise-driven. He could not be right. International cricket is definitely not franchise cricket, and franchise cricket cannot be international cricket.

International cricket is country versus country cricket. It is supposed to be the best against the best, and it is usually competitive.

The clubs are the base of sports, of cricket, and on top of that, Jamaica must live according to their means.

Apart from franchise cricket not making money, except for one or two, and apart from franchise cricket, apart from one, two, three, also playing before small crowds, except for a match or two, Heaven, especially as president of the JCA, will do well to remember that faraway fields always look green.

Heaven should know, probably more than anyone, that the Jamaican economy is short of funds; that Jamaica's cricket cannot fund cricket properly; that local cricket is supported by the rental of boxes at Sabina Park, which is threatening to fall away; and that Jamaica's cricket is supported by West Indies cricket, which is supported by grants from the ICC.

It must be obvious also, especially to one as bright as Heaven, as smart as Heaven, and as responsible as Heaven, that the fewer teams Jamaica's cricket have to fund, which it has to, the more impact will the little money have on cricket.

Cricket is an expensive business as many clubs have found and are still finding out.

If Heaven was ever deeply involved in a club, he would know this: he would know that the clubs now have but a few members, he would know that hardly anyone pays dues or subscriptions, he would know the cost of light and water, and he would know the cost of providing lunches and teas.

He would also know the cost of actually playing the game, the cost of preparing the pitch for matches and for practice sessions, the cost of cutting the field regularly, the cost of men to put on and to take off the covers, the cost of balls and other cricket equipment, the cost of umpires, not to mention travelling and at times hotel bills, and that no one pays to see local cricket regardless of who is playing.

Maybe Billy Heaven, as good a man as he is, as much as he loves cricket, and as good as his intentions are, is talking about more teams in the Senior Cup competition because he does not realise that the more often one plays, and against good competition and in good facilities, the more one trains and practises, the better one gets. Either that, or maybe he has never attempted to find a grounds man, especially a good grounds man, or two, to prepare the pitch.

In response to Dave Cameron's ill-advised comments about women physical education teachers in Jamaican schools and cricket, recently, Heaven was quoted as saying:

"To me, it's not one of the choicest statements. Certainly, that is not the road I would go down. I believe it was not considered, and it's not generally an appropriate statement. If you are in authority, your statement has to be more considered than that."