Looking at the JCA and Jamaica's cricket

Tony Becca, Contributor

After the league play which lasted just around six weeks and finished in July, the Jamaica Cricket Association's (JCA) limited-over competition got under way yesterday, not with 22 teams like the league, but in a competition which reminds of the old days when clubs paid their way, with three teams less.

Because of a lack of money, the JCA told all the eligible teams that it would provide the money (one million dollars) for balls, umpires' fees, etcetera, etcetera, and asked them to provide their own transportation and lunches at a total cost of approximately $2 million. And while 19 teams said yes, first Manchester and Portland, and then Lucas, said no.

'Once a man, twice a child' is a common saying in Jamaica, and with Jamaica's cricket, the clubs and the players, once paying their way to play, once totally dependent on the JCA's funds and sponsors' money to play the game they love in an amateur environment, now asked to subsidise their way once again, it's back to square one, except for the starting time.

It is either that or no cricket at all.

The JCA should, however, have used the opportunity to restructure Jamaica's cricket, for regardless of what some say, regardless of how many regional championships Jamaica may have won this year, the truth of the matter, the harsh reality of the situation is that Jamaica's cricket needs a master surgeon.

It is almost on its death bed.

Once the king of sports in this country and in this region, cricket is behind sports like soccer, netball and track-and-field athletics. For while soccer is losing left, right, and centre, it is immensely popular and it is losing to some good teams; while netball got bounced towards the end at the recent World Championships, it is still highly ranked; and with Usain Bolt and the girls leading the way, track and field is enjoying a golden run.

Cricket needs somebody, or some committee, to sit down with the main stakeholders - the clubs and parishes - maybe for six months, or whatever time it takes to do a good job, look at it seriously and without being selfish, without being parochial and without being biased, come up with a plan for its survival.

I do not have the answers, or certainly not all of them, but I do know that Jamaica's cricket needs a blueprint like it has never had.

Jamaica's cricket needs to look at itself and plan, and the plan should include the restructuring of its affiliates, its clubs, and parishes. It should limit them to a manageable number, it should insist that they operate constitutionally while having a proper constitution with a president, secretary, treasurer, coach, youth programme, etcetera, etcetera.

While holding regular committee meetings, they must, most importantly, possess proper facilities, clubhouses, bars, lunch rooms, lavatories, and bathrooms to entertain people and to host matches.

This may seem too much to ask, but it is not. And on top of that, it is really important.

If a club, if a group of people, cannot provide these simple things to play the game, how can one expect them to produce a great cricketer, stars like George Headley, Alfred Valentine, Gerry Alexander, Jeffrey Dujon, Jackie Hendriks, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, Lawrence Rowe, Maurice Foster, Easton McMorris, Jimmy Adams and Chris Gayle?

Retaining oversight

Environment makes the man and without being snobbish, all of these men, and others, rubbed shoulders, played with some great men at school or club level in their early days.

The JCA cannot afford to be all things to all men, and women, and be responsible to all men and women for everything cricket. Certain things it must leave alone, however, and while retaining oversight for something like schoolboy cricket, its business must be the successful organisation of club cricket, the development of club cricketers, and the preparation of the national teams.

If the JCA wants to do something for Jamaica's cricket, it will take a serious look at club cricket and in the process establish a rule that no one who does not play for the clubs can represent the national senior teams, except he is a gifted player out of the schools.

If the club competitions are properly financed and properly organised with a competition of some length, such a decree would help the clubs to survive through membership. It would pit the best players in the land against each other every weekend. With such competition, the players would improve and the national teams would eventually become - all other things being equal - unbeatable in the region.

It would also make the clubs more independent. In other words, no man, or group of men, would be able to bring in a club into a competition to win votes or do anything that would influence votes.

Make friends

Jamaica's cricket is now not close to the heart of the Jamaican people, and if things are to change for the better, the JCA needs to go into the nooks and crannies of the island and make friends.

Jamaica's cricket needs all the friends it can find if it is going to get the money it needs to turn things around, and this is the only way to do it.

Don Wehby, the CEO of Grace-Kennedy and Company Limited, recently said that the JCA has not yet responded to his long-standing offer of help to assist in a programme whereby the business sector would adopt a cricketer; but something is wrong here.

Wehby is a nice man, he means Jamaica's cricket well. He will work towards Jamaica's cricket blooming again, but it is like putting the horse before the carriage.

With the league lasting a mere six weeks and the limited-overs competition lasting six weeks, when the year ends Jamaica would have played only 12 weeks of competitive cricket.

Out of 52 weeks, that is bad, if only because the more you play, the better you will become.

Apart from the restructuring of the clubs and parishes, a good move would be to recognise the fact that the clubs and parishes, and not the JCA, run Jamaica's cricket.

The JCA membership is elected at regular intervals by the clubs and parishes as their representative body and the JCA, like the West Indies Board to the territories, is answerable to the clubs and parishes.

One other thing they need to look at: too many of the JCA members get involved in the association to feather their own nest, to become selectors, managers, West Indies Board members, etcetera, etcetera, and Jamaica's cricket cannot afford that.

Jamaica's cricket need people who are committed to the cause, people of class and pedigree, people who, if they believe they are good enough, will accept positions offered, not people who lobby for positions in spite of their shortcomings.

Are we back to square one? Almost, but may be it is better than nothing.

Somehow, however, I get the feeling the time would have been better spent had the JCA sat with those who love the game and those who know about the game, those who know about organisation of the game and those who can sponsor the game, and deal with its restructuring once and for all.