Hendriks
Tony Becca, Senior Sport Editor
JACKIE HENDRIKS, the former Jamaica and West Indies wicketkeeper and now president of the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control, has a dream and local cricketers are hoping his dream will come true.
Hendriks dream is for a semi-pro league in the not too distant future.
According to Hendriks, Jamaica lose a number of their top players to the leagues in England, some times to the clubs in the United States, it is affecting the development of the country's young players, and a way has got to be found to keep them at home.
"I think we need to offer players in the Senior Cup some sort of reward so they will think twice before going off," said Hendriks during a short welcome address at a press conference at The Courtleigh on Thursday morning.
Hendriks is right. There is no question young players need to play with and against better and more experienced players in order to properly hone their skills and there is no question the absence of so many of the better players during the local competitions robs them of that opportunity.
Players like Laurie Williams, Gareth Breese, Mario Ventura and Tony Powell are not world beaters, but they are national players, they are good players, they are experienced players and like Michael Millwood and the many others who ply their trade in England and in the US, their presence would not only ensure stronger teams and therefore a better and more attractive competition, but it would also provide two opportunities to the younger players - to learn and to really test their skills.
A semi-pro league would certainly be good for Jamaica's cricket and it would be really nice if Hendriks' dream comes true. That, however, will cost a lot of money, it will take a lot of selling by the board and, in the final analysis, it will depend on the generosity of corporate Jamaica - on how important they see the game of cricket and how it impacts on the national psyche.
It will depend on the generosity of the sponsors for the simple reason that although in time the presence of the country's best players will make the competition strong and really competitive, cricket, unlike football, does not attract large crowds, regardless of how strong the competition becomes it will hardly attract crowds large enough to foot the bill and apart from a few fund-raising events here and there, it will be difficult to find funding elsewhere.
As difficult as it will be to fund, a semi-pro league is worth a try, it is worth every effort by the board and it should be supported by all those who profess to love the game and should now be praying the dream comes true.
For too long local cricket has been suffering from lack of spectator support, one of the reasons is the decline in the standard of play, and it would be nice to have a competition in which clubs like Melbourne, Kingston, Kensington, Lucas and St. Catherine are at full strength - not only for a few matches but throughout the season. It would, once again, be cricket lovely cricket, and once again fans would be attracted to cricket on Saturdays and Sundays.
A semi-pro league would be really a blessing - not only for the cricketers who up to now are encouraged to train, practice and play without any financial reward and who would then be rewarded somewhat, but also for those who believe there are too many weak teams in the top competition and in the interest of development, in the interest of the country's cricket, there should be a promotion and relegation system.
In order to fund a semi-pro league, in order to attempt to fund a semi-pro league, the board would be forced to cut the numbers, to separate the strong from the weak and have the best competing against the best.
