Letter of the Day | More posing than actual work

THE EDITOR, Madam:

‘Pose’ – the most appropriate word to use when describing cricket in Jamaica. From our government to our board, we are seeing the occurrence of more posing than actual work.

With the embarrassing departure of the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise to Antigua, attributed to insufficient government support, alongside their decision not to bid for the ICC T20 World Cup being held in West Indies and USA, followed by the respective parties POSING with the ICC T20 World Cup trophy, it is a slap in the face to all Jamaicans.

Beginning with the Caribbean Premier League, former owner Kris Persaud went on SportsMax and could not even recall the name of a Jamaican minister involved in CPL due to complete non-involvement with the team. While cricket faces challenges in Jamaica and is seen as a dying sport by many, it continues to flourish across the rest of the Caribbean.

Cricket not only ranks as the highest-earning sport for young Jamaicans across any sport from a youth level, it has also proven to stimulate economies significantly by having just a few (4/5) games held in a country.

For instance, The Guardian reported on April 5, 2024 that, in 2023, Guyana experienced a total economic impact of US$101,683,135 due to hosting the CPL. This impact was generated from just six regular season games and four playoff matches. A study by YouGov considered the key economic drivers such as organiser spend, visitor spend and media value. The tournament resulted in the occupancy of 23,217 hotel rooms, with a substantial portion of the economic impact attributed to spending by overseas visitors.

Similarly, in Barbados, the CPL and WCPL generated a total impact of US$40,446,754 during the 2023 tournament, with six CPL games leading to the filling of 10,952 hotel rooms. Once again, the primary economic impact stemmed from spending by overseas visitors.

NEGLECTED SPORTS AND TOURISM

For a country deeply reliant on tourism and sports, we have neglected both sectors. This oversight represents a missed opportunity to boost the local economy, extending benefits beyond just hotels. Vendors like ‘nutsy’ and drink sellers, Airbnb hosts, and local businesses would all profit from hosting the CPL.

While other countries leverage our own entertainers to engage CPL crowds – such as Guyana featuring Shenseea and Beres Hammond in concerts – we continue to overlook such opportunities. Now, we’re left waiting to see who will be willing and financially capable of coming to Jamaica without government or local board support. It appears that we’re banking on an Indian Premier League team to rescue us, as they don’t rely heavily on local backing.

As for the World Cup, the individuals responsible for preventing cricket in Jamaica are now flaunting the trophy at Devon House, despite their lack of action. Why the sudden desire to host the trophy in Jamaica, given the Jamaica Cricket Association’s last-minute bid preparations and the government’s disengagement?

It seems we’ve decided that events like the CPL, with its massive audience of over 853 million viewers, and the ICC T20 World Cup, the world’s second most-watched tournament after the FIFA World Cup, hold no value for Jamaicans.

It’s time for Jamaica to wake up and reclaim its place in cricket. With the youth re-engaging and unprecedented opportunities for young athletes to thrive financially, we can’t afford to ignore this sport any longer. We must abandon simple posing and complacency. We must take decisive action now.

CRICKET LOVER