Where are the cricket fans? At work, maybe!

Dennie Quill, Gleaner Columnist

I am an unapologetic cricket fan. And even in these tumultuous times when West Indies cricket appears to be crawling on all fours, there is a small part of me that wants to put aside the layers of disappointment and simply pay homage to the power of this great game.

So the excitement has been building in my chest now that the series against India has started and I have been talking with some passionate followers of the game about the upcoming ODI and Test match at Sabina Park. "No interest at all," is how one former devotee responded, while there were similar sentiments all round.

I am looking at my calendar and I see that the ODI is on Thursday, June 16. Hmm, I thought, not bad, the over-50s who continue to be fascinated by the game may be able to deftly adjust their schedules to make the trek to Sabina on that day.

what about weekends?

Then I check out the dates for the Test and find it will be played Monday to Friday of the following week. And I ask myself the question, so what about the weekend? Shouldn't they have scheduled the ODI for Saturday or Sunday, and the Test to include Saturday and Sunday?

One may argue that the ODI, the compressed form of the game, and the Test match are not competing for the same audiences. Thursday will be the day for those who mostly want to socialise and profile, while stealing occasional glances at the pitch and the traditional fans can dig in their heels for five days of contest set for June 20-24.

The game's many stakeholders must agree that this is lunacy and can only be read as a strong indication that the organisers have resigned themselves to having the matches played to empty venues. Who are the people likely to attend matches on Thursday and again from Monday to Friday? Retirees? Unemployed? Visitors? Students? Sponsors? It will take a great deal to lure new fans to the game and neither the Jamaica Cricket Association nor the West Indies Cricket Board appears to have the imagination to do this.

Note that the second Test is being played in Barbados from July 28 to July 2, and in Dominica, the Third Test is slated for July 6 to July 10. In both instances, they are taking advantage of the weekend, obviously to guarantee bigger audiences.

market cricket

Even with a spate of parlous performances by our team, every effort should be made to market the game and bring back excitement in order to lift the spirits of those who are disenchanted with the way things are being run, both in the boardroom and on the pitch.

I must immediately rebuke those who say our cricket administrators are only interested in money. Clearly, that is not the case, for very little attempt has been made to promote the upcoming series. No doubt, when the post-mortem of the series is done, we will be told what a colossal financial loss this has been.

The Jamaicans are regional champions of the game, and how have our cricket administrators converted this into their advantage? How have they used the success of the local team to rouse support among fellow sport-loving Jamaicans?

Given the predictable financial results of this series, can we expect this evolving team to lift its performance several notches and return some measure of respectability to West Indies cricket?

Dennie Quill is a veteran media practitioner. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and denniequill@hotmail.com.