Tony Becca
THE WORLD Cup of cricket is just under 15 months away, it will be hosted by the West Indies, and West Indians from all walks of life, including professionals and businessmen, are looking forward to it with great anticipation.
Like all big sport events anywhere in the world, the World Cup offers a great opportunity for the hosts to make some money. This one should be no exception. With thousands upon thousands of visitors expected to be in the region for the event, the region, each and every one of the countries involved, should be licking their fingers on the way to the bank when it is all over.
In other words, the World Cup, and this one in particular, is more than cricket: it is about making money, it is about selling the region as a tourist destination and it is about setting the stage to make more money in the future.
In the final analysis, however, it is a cricket event and in planning for it, in preparing for it, those who are doing the planning and making the preparations should not forget that - and for two important reasons.
One reason is that even if they do not win, the West Indies, as the hosts, need to put up a good showing on the field, and another is that those in cricket, those who have been in cricket, need to be involved. In other words, there needs to be some emphasis, more emphasis, on preparing the West Indies team for the event, and equally important, those in cricket should be involved in the planning and the preparation and should not be pushed aside.
MARGINALISED
Right now, however, those in cricket, those who have been in cricket, those have been involved in the administration of the game, appear to be marginalised - so much so that although a few are on committees, there is growing resentment among members of the Jamaica Cricket Association who believe, and in many cases justifiably so, that they are being brushed aside by "experts", many of whom showed no interest in the game until the coming of the World Cup.
While the World Cup will be the showcase of the region, while it will be important to the region as a whole, and while there is need for expertise, for qualified people, in many areas, the World Cup is a cricket event, and those in cricket should be involved in the cricket side of things.
That, however, does not seem to be the case - certainly not in Jamaica, not with Andy Atkinson, the ICC's pitch inspector, visiting Jamaica recently to inspect pitches and doing so without the knowledge and the input of the JCA, and certainly not in the way the Local Organising Committee is going about selecting, for example, the liaison officers for the teams that will be playing in Jamaica.
The plan by the LOC is to advertise these positions and while on the surface that appears the best way to go, in reality it is an insult to those who have been serving Jamaica's cricket for years in that capacity and a lack of respect for the JCA.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE
When one remembers the many years of voluntary service by the men who have served as liaison officers, the quality service of some of them, their knowledge and their expertise, and the commendations they have received from visiting teams - from the managers and captains of England, Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and also from the managers and captains of regional teams, the LOC, which does not know, should simply ask the JCA, who knows, for its recommendations and then advertise for the remaining positions.
Over the years, Jamaica's cricket, and West Indies cricket, has been served by volunteers, and it would be a shame if, for a big occasion like the World Cup, those who have served and served well, those who know what they are doing, and those with experience are brushed aside for opportunists.
The World Cup will showcase the West Indies and the people of the West Indies, and in selecting people to work during the World Cup, the LOCs are obliged to select the best, lest they embarrass the West Indies.
The best, however, includes some people who have worked without reward for cricket over the years. It includes people who know what they are doing, and unless the LOCs have little interest in the game, it is only reasonable that they should be part of the event - and especially so the cricket part of the event.
The LOCs should stop and think. If they do, they will realise, or should realise, that the game, for example, will still be going on, or should still be going on, after the World Cup, and that after the World Cup, the game, in the West Indies and at all levels, will once again depend on volunteers - and some good ones at that.
The LOCs had better be careful that when the World Cup is over there is volunteer to keep the game going.
