SVGCA Executive gets egg in its face

Whatever the circumstances which led to the late entry of Spartans in the National Lotteries Authority Neil Williams T/20 Cricket Competition, the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association must take both responsibility and blame.{{more}}

This sort of faux pas is unacceptable and untenable.

Could something so glaring as a team, which had already paid its registration fee, yet was not fixtured until the competition had already seen quarter finalists emerge, and when some teams had completed their quota of matches?

This column rules out any hanky panky and views it as human error and negligence.

But it is laughable and sometimes comical as to the chronology of events which led to Spartans eventually being admitted in the competition, albeit with some legitimacy.

Was there any liaison between the secretariat of the SVGCA and the person(s) preparing the fixtures and the scheduling of the matches?

If after the two weekends of competition, when all teams had played, why was not noticed that one team did not play?

To add insult to injury, Spartans, according to the receipt, paid its fees two days after the competition had started, enough time to correct the oversight.

More so, the receipt showed the team had paid six weeks in advance of the upcoming National Lotteries Authority Premier Division competition, which is set to begin in the latter part of this month.

Incidentally, it was only earlier this week that the SVGCA through its Second Vice President Selwyn Allen advised teams/clubs desirous in participating in the Premier Division of the national Cricket competition that registration forms are now available.

Allen stated that the closing date for registration is Friday, March 16, and the competitions will get underway on the weekend of March 30 and 31, 2012.

The entire affair surely does not speak well for the administrative capacity of those who are charged with the responsibility of guarding the sport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

But what is also interesting is that President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Julian Jack admitted that the decision to let Spartans to be part of the competition was not unanimous, which points to a split in the voting.

This certainly opens another can of worms, as if everything were above board, why then should some executive members vote against it?

The repercussions are well documented as two teams, Victors One and Smashers showed their disapproval of the inefficiency of the SVGCA by not turning up to face Spartans.

If others choose to do likewise, what will become of the competition?

Whilst this column does not want the extreme case to come to fruition, the message has been sent to the Executive of the SVGCA that there are persons who are willing to act in accordance with their conscience and say no to incompetence.

Readily, one will want to malign the hierarchy of the Spartans outfit, but the buck stops with the Executive of the SVGCA, and ultimately with its head, Julian Jack.

The SVGCA has egg on its face for its inconsistency as persons are casting aspersions at it.

Its alleged flexibility and maybe good nature of having some teams playing several matches in its competition, before they have paid their registration, while others have been debarred from participating because of late payment of fees, may have come back to haunt the executive and its operations.

But these are teachable moments for those in the hot seat of Cricket administration, as well as other sporting entities, to let proficiency be their watch word.

Maybe the SVGCA has to, apart from sending announcements via the electronic media, contact its affiliates personally, either by telephone or by letter, to avoid a reoccurrence.

The SVGCA must also be firm with its deadlines and other operational structures to avoid another flare up as what local Cricket is enduring.

But do they have the moral authority to do such?

Such a public washing of the inefficiencies of the SVGCA could be avoided if greater attention is paid to the administration of the sport here.

We are far from the Cricket happenings taking place in Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana, but the signs are flickering.