Local cricket inflamed with issues

Now more than ever must be the most unbalanced time facing the administration of cricket in St Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

The current situation is becoming more and more inflamed, with the pus starting to splutter in the public domain.

It must be understood too, that in the age of technology and quicker forms of communication, the slightest fallout is magnified via all forms by which such information can be spread.

Things reached a zenith earlier this week with reports that a petition is being circulated, garnering signatures, presumably discontented with the workings of the national executive.

Much of the concern though, which is surfacing at this time, seems to be of personality differences, mainly directed at the operations of the executive led by Julian Jack.

And, like every organization, once things are assessed to be going awry, the head is the easiest target.

Therefore, it goes true to form that Jack should find himself being served up with a barrage of verbal bouncers aimed at decapitating him.

Justified or otherwise, uneasy lies the head who wears the crown.

History keeps its unkind status, as this undoubtedly is one of the lowest ebbs that the sport has found itself in this blessed land of ours.

The Julian Jack executive is presiding over a period when there is an instituted nonchalance, when things simply unfold with no determined pathway to the objective.

Jack has been at the helm for those years, as St Vincent and the Grenadines are the perennial title holders of the last position in the annual Windwards Under-15 tournament.

This, in no small measure, is because of the absence of a structured youth development programme, a cricket competition among the primary schools, as well as an Under-16 competition in the secondary institutions.

Similarly, our Under-19 male outfit is no longer a force among the other three Windward territories.

Neither is the St Vincent and the Grenadines women’s team considered good enough to challenge the likes of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana.

Additionally, the sport is experiencing a time when the “Premier Division teams” are being dismissed for scores such as 20, 37 and other double digit totals.

There is almost total lack of interest in the national cricket competition, as many of the players themselves just go through the motions to ensure the matches are convened and a result one way or the other is achieved.

In addition, there is an absence of spectatorship at the matches, except for the few die-hards, the immediate families or fiancé(e)s of the players, no matter the gender.

All these, rolled into one, have caused the sport to lose its attraction, warding off sponsors against throwing their monies in to see cricket advance.

But are all the vagaries and downsides the working of the men who were voted in to the various portfolios on the executive?

Should some of the players themselves and administrators of the units which participate in the national competitions hold themselves culpable as well for the state of play?

The column would repeatedly ask players, what about the self-factor whenever they take the field of play? Are you responsible for ensuring that you record a good effort when called upon to do so?

How many of the affiliates of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association exercise their rights outside the annual general meetings?

Do they seek answers for the concerns direct from the executive or the secretariat, rather than grind the rumour mill finer?

The conditions of cricket go beyond the boundary, as it takes more than positive results on the field to address the woes that are debilitating the sport.

Should those who are concerned sit, criticise and fiddle while Rome is burning?

Whatever happens with cricket in St Vincent and the Grenadines in some way or the other affects many persons directly or indirectly.

The occasion then presents itself for all stakeholders to sit at the table of reconciliation and thrash out the differences and compass a new course for the sport.

Or is it an ultimatum that Julian Jack must go and all will be well?