Going nowhere fast

Has the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association grown tired? Or are they tired of doing nothing?

Either question could be answered in the affirmative, as there seems to be institionalised indifference as it relates to the administration of cricket here.{{more}}

The activities of the association seem to be rudderless, and the course being taken lacks any co-ordinated navigation.

The Executive’s lethargy seems to have gone into overdrive mode.

This brings sharply into focus, two of the most recent events undertaken by the national body, not withstanding the scant attention given to Cricket development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

First, the hosting of the Senior Windwards Cricket Competition here, which was set to end yesterday, Thursday, was last thing on the minds of persons. It was a hush-hush affair, as little by way of advertising the matches and informing the public that something was happening here was done.

Whilst one is quite aware of the financial constraints of the association, more effort could have been employed to create an awareness that the best players of the four Windwards were on display here for six days of Cricket.

Are they awaiting the three One Day Internationals next March to show off their administrative wares?

If this is the case, one has to get the small things right before the big ones can be tackled with any efficiency.

Also, the well intentioned Presentation Ceremony and Awards Ceremony continues to be the drab, uninspiring, run of the mill, stereotyped template, and last Saturday night’s function, again confirmed this.

How long can we continue to attend such events and know the format? There was no change, no innovation from the previous years, except a change in some of the personnel receiving the awards and a different Feature Speaker addressing a different topic?

Event planning of this nature must be well timed, as the awardees are the ones who should take the limelight, and no one else.

A case in point was last Saturday night, when the Minister of Sports overshadowed the keynote speaker, Dr. Perry De Freitas.

Also, one cannot blame persons who turned up the ceremony, not appropriately attired, as the event continues to be devalued by the organizers themselves, hence they attendees are merely taking that cue.

Back to the actual awards. Again, it appears that there are no set criteria for persons being named among the Five Cricketers of the Year.

This, though, is with the understanding that there were not many outstanding performances in 2011. However, clear guidelines for such awards must be drawn up.

Again, this column will advise the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association to try its best to change the format of the Awards and Presentation Ceremony, to include some sort of class.

At an event of that nature, why should there be a mad rush to partake of what was there for the serving?

Why should specially invited persons have to compete with others for a snack or drink?

As it stands now, it is only a little above the normal ceremonies held by a minnow community organisation, and lacks much pomp and panache.

The major differences though, are that the Cricket Association continues to have presence of the Governor General, the patron of the organisation, and it is held in a hall, with proper acoustics and the like.

The need to add some class to the ceremony is long overdue.

Maybe the Executive of the SVGCA is contented with the status quo, that everyone accepts the mediocrity.

Or is it that we are generally satisfied with the level of operations here?

Despite the evident lack of effort put into the ceremony, the SVGCA must be commended for each year staging its internal recognition ceremony, as it is among the few national sporting associations, which engage in such a practice.

Everyone expects more from the national Cricket body, as “to whom much is given, much is expected”.