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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will meet in the final of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Women’s League today at 10:00 am (9:00 am Jamaica time).

The two teams have played the best cricket in the eight-team tournament and will face-off at the historic Kensington Oval. TT are two-time defending champions, having won in 2009 in Guyana and last year in St Vincent. Jamaica did not do as well as expected last year, but have looked a disciplined and determined unit this year.

In the preliminary round Trinidad and Tobago topped Group A with three wins, while the Jamaicans were second in the same group with two wins.

Jamaica’s one defeat came against TT – by just three runs. In the semi-finals on Friday, TT easily beat St Lucia by five wickets with 15 overs left. Jamaica had little worry in their semi-final, as they got over Barbados by a similar margin with 13.3 overs to spare.

According to TT skipper Merissa Aguilleira: “The team is in very high spirits. We are confident going into the final and everyone expects a victory.

“Jamaica have a strong team, with Taylor and Daley playing well, but we also have some very good players in our camp and we know we can get the better of them tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Jamaican counterpart Stafanie Taylor admitted it was a big game for her team.

“This is a big game for everyone in the team… a big occasion for Jamaica cricket. We will adopt the same approach we had in the earlier matches. We will be patient and watchful and play to our strengths. We lost to TT in the first round, so we will look to correct that this time around.”

Jamaica will look to Taylor and West Indies teammate Shanel Daley to deliver the goods for them. At age 20, Taylor is already the most successful woman in West Indies history with over 1,400 runs and 45 wickets in 36 ODIs.

Daley is a solid left-handed batter and clever left-arm spinner. She has been in great form so far with the bat — making 60 against Trinidad and Tobago. She has also taken a record eight wickets for seven runs against Grenada.

Trinidad and Tobago will look to Stacy-Ann King, who has been one of the leading all-rounders in the Caribbean for five years, and a reliable member of the Windies team.

Jamaica – Stafanie Taylor (captain), Shanel Daley (vice-captain), Chinel Henry, Tameka Sanford, Jodi-Ann Morgan, Karla Cohen, Vanessa Watts, Abbie-Gaye Hendricks, Peta-Gaye Hanson, Chadean Nation, Roshanna Outar, Alecia Bookal, Michelle Thompson, Natasha McLean

Trinidad and Tobago – Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Anisa Mohammed (vice-captain), Alisa Mohammed, Gaitri Seetahal, Shenelle Lord, Whitney Cudjoe, Lee Ann Kirby, Amanda Samaroo, Devika Singh, Stacy-Ann King, Kirbyina Alexander, Britney Cooper, Felicia Walters, Alison Collins.

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Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Robert Samuels, coach of Jamaica’s Under-19 team, says a weak national limited-overs culture could be highlighted as one of the reasons why the team failed to cop the coveted double during the just-concluded West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 tournament in Guyana.

According to Samuels, unlike other regional countries who have been increasing the number of national 50-overs and Twenty20 competitions, Jamaica has been doing the opposite with no national Twenty20 competition last season, and this year’s 50-overs and Twenty20 competitions in doubt.

“Limited-overs cricket, be it 50 or 20 overs, has become more scientific, as it relates to the planning and execution by teams and players, and due to a lack of focus and attention on these formats nationally we are finding it difficult to cope,” said Samuels who, along with members of the Under-19 team, returned home yesterday.

“It’s a travesty and one that we, the management of various national teams, need to sit down with the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and discuss, especially given the fact that limited-overs tournaments around the region, and across the world, are the most lucrative of all tournaments,” he added.

The JCA, which recently elected former national representative Lyndel Wright as president, failed to stage a national Twenty20 competition, due to a reported lack of funds.

This year, with funds again being a problem, the association, which is three months old, has failed to put on a 50-overs tournament, which traditionally has been held between the summer months of June and August.

It also seems likely that for the second season running there will be no Twenty20 competition, as with just a few weeks to go before the official end of the 2010-2011 season there has been no word yet on the staging of this the shortest form of the game.

‘Step up to the plate’

The Jamaica cricket season runs concurrently with the WICB’s, which starts in September and ends in August the following year.

Over past five years, Jamaica, the reigning four-time four-day champions, have competed in five regional 50-overs tournaments, winning one, and five regional Twenty20 tournaments, all of which they have lost.

“Limited-overs cricket is an important format and, simply put, Jamaica need to step up to the plate,” Samuels added.

Meanwhile, Wavell Hinds, manager of the Under-19 team, believes that adequate and quality preparation leading into the three-day version of the tournament were some of the reasons that resulted in Jamaica reclaiming the title from Trinidad and Tobago.

Barbados, who ended with five wins from as many games, won the 50-overs equivalent.

“Hats off to the coaching staff, including physical trainer David Bernard Sr, who did a very good job in getting the players mentally and physically ready for the start of the tournament,” said Hinds.

“This foundation allowed the team to get a good start by winning the first match, and although we had a hiccup midway when we lost first innings to Barbados, we returned to bowl them out for 63 in the second innings and win the match, and we were able to hold our composure thereafter.”

Meanwhile, three members of the team, opener John Campbell, leg-spinner and captain Donovan Nelson, and hard-hitting middle-order batsman, Brian Gayle, who made a century in Jamaica’s final match of the 50-overs tournament, have been selected to the West Indies Under-19 squad which will shortly begin preparation for next year’s ICC Youth World Cup.

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DESPITE the public outcry, the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), has kept quiet on the ‘Lawrence Rowe affair’.

For those who cannot recall, the ‘Lawrence Rowe affair’ has to do with the JCA’s decision to name the players’ pavilion at Sabina Park after Lawrence Rowe, although he has, unlike others, failed to sincerely apologise for visiting apartheid South Africa.

Apartheid was a brutal system of government. It was a policy of segregation which was practised by the Nationalist Party that formed the Government of South Africa from 1948-1992. The policy of apartheid excluded all persons who were not white from the organs of power, as well as from certain places, and types of employment, and from national sport teams.

Rowe, according to the JCA, had to first apologise for going to apartheid South Africa in 1983, before it bestowed the honour on him.

So, someone, whoever, wrote an apology and gave it to Rowe to read. He read it. He declared how sorry he was for going to apartheid South Africa. Feeling reassured, the leadership of the JCA, at the start of the first Test match against India, unveiled the name Lawrence Rowe, which now sadly, decorates the entrance to the players’ pavilion.

Slap in the face

So soon after Rowe made his apology, and was honoured by the JCA, he slapped the leadership of the JCA in the face. In an interview on radio, Rowe declared that by going to apartheid South Africa he had done nothing wrong. He further declared that his going to South Africa under apartheid rule was right. He also argued that going to South Africa contributed to the dismantling of apartheid.

To further compound the situation, he stated that in another 40 to 50 years, those around at that time may declare him a national hero. According to him, if crooks like Paul Bogle could be declared a national hero, so could he. Clearly, his characterisation of Paul Bogle as a crook reflects his total misunderstanding of what Bogle did.

Despite Rowe’s rejection of its ‘before honour’ apology, the newly elected leadership of the JCA has kept its collective mouth shut. Despite Rowe calling our natural heroes ‘crooks’, the JCA has kept its mouth shut. Despite Rowe’s lack of remorse, the JCA has kept its mouth shut.

The JCA seems to have adopted a policy of, ‘see and blind, hear and deaf’. Apparently, it is of the view that if it keeps quiet, the gutwrenching act of honouring a defiant Rowe will be forgotten.

‘Blood money’

Incredibly, Rowe also claimed during the said radio interview that it was not the money why he went to South Africa.

At the time, Rowe had not played Test cricket for three years. He, like those whom he convinced to go with him to South Africa, was in desperate financial need. The leadership of the apartheid South African cricket union, led then by Dr Ali Bacher, knew that. So he afforded a huge sum of blood money to Rowe and his cohorts. It is reported that they each received US$100,000.

The main issue, however, is not so much the amount of money, but the fact that the money paid by apartheid South Africa was generated by the racist policies perpetuated then, against persons who looked like Rowe. Rowe must also remember that he and his fellow travellers were heavily quoted in the international press, at the time, as saying that they agreed to play the apartheid South African team, the Springboks, because the money offered was too tempting to refuse.

By its act, the JCA has betrayed the leadership given to the JCA by persons such as Alan Rae. Rae, while giving leadership to JCA, showed that he had a sense of history, and a sense of what was right, and what was wrong.

Alan Rae, in 1983, when he heard that Rowe would be going to South Africa, as an ‘honorary white’, begged him and pleaded with him not to go. If Alan Rae was alive today he would be one of the first to disagree with the JCA’s decision to name the players’ pavilion after Lawrence Rowe.

Despite frantic messages to Jamaica by the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), through imprisoned persons like Nelson Mandela, to Michael Manley, then leader of the Opposition, Rowe kept denying that he was going to apartheid South Africa. Not only, as the facts later revealed, was he lying about going, but he had agreed to be the captain of the team and he was also busy recruiting others to go.

Stupid Black Man

Two weeks after Rowe arrived in South Africa, a wellknown local journalist, Sekola Sello, sought to interview him. When he was asked by Sello if he felt that he had made the right decision to be in apartheid South Africa, he said: “I cannot answer that. It is not cricket.”

When asked by Sello about his impressions with regards to the race relations he had experienced in South Africa, Rowe refused to answer on the basis that the question was about “politics and not cricket”.

When asked, by Sello if he had seen any other black cricketers, apart from those who had travelled with him, Rowe dismissed the question by saying it was not about cricket.

When Sello pressed him and asked him if he did not want blacks to know his, and his fellow travellers’ opinion on the controversial tour, the man honoured by the JCA snapped, and angrily responded: “Don’t tell me about a stupid black man.”

“Are you saying blacks are stupid?” Sello shot back. “I don’t care what you are asking,” answered Rowe.

Yet, Lawrence Rowe, would wish for us to believe his diatribe, which the leadership of the JCA, by its silence, seems to buy into, that his visit to apartheid South Africa in 1983 and 1984, helped to remove apartheid as the system of government in that country. How could this be when he did not want to discuss the challenges facing ‘the stupid black men’ in South Africa?

Wayne Lewis, a former national cricketer, also believes this ‘cock and bull’ story. On national television recently, Lewis declared that Lawrence Rowe’s visit to South Africa might have helped dismantle apartheid. How could Lawrence Rowe’s action contributed to the dismantling of apartheid when he dismissed their plight as that of ‘stupid black men?

Jamaica and India

Lawrence Rowe’s visits to apartheid South Africa in 1983 and 1984 were opposed by the leadership of the principal fighters against apartheid in South Africa, the ANC. The ANC’s leadership had, from the time apartheid was imposed as a system of government in South Africa, continuously informed the international community that one of the main ways apartheid would be dismantled was by the imposition of international sanctions against that country.

Jamaica, a small, proud, dignified, but non-independent country, was the first country this side of the Atlantic to impose, in 1957, economic and trade sanctions against the apartheid regime.

The only country to have done so before Jamaica was India, in 1946. The very same India whose team members were playing the West Indies team at Sabina Park when the JCA decided to put Rowe on display.

The JCA’s action, therefore, was not only an insult to the people of Jamaica, but also the people of India, whose leadership, at the time of Rowe’s rebel tour in 1983 and 1984, stood firm against the system of apartheid. The Indian Government at the time condemned Rowe and his rebel team members for accepting the invitation from the apartheid directed South African Cricket Union to visit South Africa.

Both Jamaica and India stood shoulder to shoulder with other countries to have apartheid South Africa removed from the Commonwealth Group in 1961. Both Jamaica and India, along with other countries worked, hand in glove, to have the members of the Commonwealth Group sever sporting relations with apartheid South Africa, when it adopted the Gleneagles Declaration in 1977. Both Jamaica and India, and other countries, worked side by side, in pushing the United Nations to adopt a convention against apartheid in sport.

These measures, coupled with sustained and consistent domestic pressure led by the ANC in South Africa, exacted unbearable pressure on the governing Nationalist Party of then apartheid South Africa, which eventually led the leadership of that party to start having dialogue with Nelson Mandela, the president of the ANC, with a view to getting rid of apartheid in South Africa.

Rowe and his fellow band of cricketers broke every rule, every embargo, every sanction imposed by those who were working with the ANC to get the Government of apartheid South Africa to remove the system of apartheid. Rowe at the time ignored the request from the ANC not to visit South Africa. He had no desire to listen to those ‘stupid black men’.

During Rowe’s visit to South Africa, he never sought to meet with anyone who stood against apartheid. He, nor the other cricketers, never uttered one word against apartheid. Yet, the JCA by its silence, and Wayne Lewis by his uninformed utterances, would wish us to believe that Rowe’s visit to South Africa in 1983 and 1984 contributed to the removal of apartheid in South Africa.

Insult to the Jamaican people

Lawrence Rowe continues to insult the people of Jamaica, the people of India, and the people of South Africa, and all those who stood against apartheid, by declaring that in going to apartheid South Africa he did nothing wrong.

He has continued his assault against the intelligence of the Jamaican people by promoting the absurd notion that his visit to apartheid South Africa assisted in the downfall of the South African racist regime.

To compound this backward argument the JCA, led by Jamaicans who ought to know better, has sought to rub salt in the wounds of all Jamaicans by sticking to its decision to honour a person who has shown no remorse for his action.

There must be at least one person in the leadership of the JCA who is prepared to stand up against this fabrication of history by Rowe.

There must be at least one person in the JCA, who is prepared to say, we made a mistake in naming the players’ pavilion after Rowe.

There must be at least one person in the JCA who is prepared to say, in the name of the people of Jamaica, and South Africa, let us remove Lawrence Rowe’s name from the players’ pavilion and restore some semblance of credibility to the JCA.

There must be at least one member of the JCA who has a sense of history, and who is not prepared to honour a man who described the anti-apartheid campaigners in South Africa, as ‘stupid black men’.

(Editor’s note: Delano Franklyn is an attorney-at-law and welcomes comments at delanofranklyn@gmail.com)

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(WICB) Bridgetown, Barbados ” The girls from Jamaica were crowned queens of West Indies cricket today when they beat Trinidad and Tobago by 30 runs to win the WICB Women’s League trophy. The Jamaicans made 136 and defended the score as TT were bowled out for 106 at the historic Kensington Oval. It was a superb triumph and Jamaica have now won the WICB men’s four-day, the WICB Under-19 three-day and the

WICB Under-15 titles.

Speaking after the match, Jamaica captain Stafanie Taylor said it was a “great feeling” to take the trophy back to her homeland. The world-rated allrounder starred in the match with a topscore of 45 and grabbed two wickets. Shanel Daley also played an important part in the match with 28 runs and two wickets.

“I’m feeling so good right now. Everyone is happy. We came here, we worked really hard and we did ourselves and all of Jamaica proud. Everything was going good from morning and everyone did a great job today ” on and off the field,” the 20-year-old said.

“We’re a very, very happy team today because we know the hardwork we put in paid off. Some people would say 136 was a small score but we knew whatever we made we could defend it and that is what we did … we didn’t give up. We were confident from the start.”

Taylor added: “Before we left the JCA [Jamaica Cricket Association] had a long meeting with us and they said the other teams have done very well and we knew we had to do it. We won in 2008 and came close in 2009 and we really went out there and did the business today. This is a great year for everyone involved in cricket in Jamaica.”

Trinidad Tobago, who had not lost a match in two seasons, were chasing their third consecutive women’s title, but came up short in the most important match of this tournament.

At Kensington Oval: Jamaica 136 all out off 48.1 overs (Stafanie Taylor 45, Natasha McLean 34, Shanel Daley 28, Anisa Mohammed 4-20, Gaitri Seetahal 3-25, Felicia Walters 2-25) Trinidad Tobago 106 all out off 42.1 overs (Britney Cooper 43, Merissa Aguilleira 17, Vanessa Watts 11 not out; Stefanie Taylor 2-14, Shanel Daley 2-23).

Jamaica won by 30 runs

Third Place play-off

At Pine Basin: St. Lucia 111 all out off 41.4 overs (Swayline William 31, Maria David 19, Phillipa Eudovic 17; Danielle Small 5-9, Shaquana Quintyne 3-20) Barbados 112-3 off 19.2 overs (Kycia Knight 50, Danielle Small 35)

Barbados won by seven wickets

Fifth Place Play-off

At Friendship: Guyana 127 all out off 47.5 overs (Tremayne Smartt 24, Shemaine Campbell 18, Yolande Parker 16; Sheree-Ann John 2-12, Roshelle John 2-24) St. Vincent The Grenadines 84 all out off 26.3 overs (Juliana Nero 42, Shemaine Campbell 3-8, Joann Vansertima 3-9, Subrina Munroe 3-11)

Guyana won by 43 runs.

Seventh Place Play-off

At Desmond Haynes Oval: Grenada 293-3 off 50 overs) (Afy Fletcher 133, Debbie-Ann Lewis 47 not out, Rachel Cyrus 43; Anica Benjamin 2-45) Dominica 79 all out off 27.5 overs (Rosilia Registe 18; Afy Fletcher 4-18, Rachel Cyrus 2-7, Marilyn Nelson 2-25)

Grenada beat by 214 runs

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“The black Bradman”, George Headley was unstoppable at every level of the game, making runs with a style and brilliance few have ever matched, and …

TALKS between the University of Technology (UTech) and the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) to introduce modern scientific methods to preparing pitches and outfields across the country are in an “advanced” stage, according to UTech’s director of sports Anthony Davis.

Davis said both parties are now awaiting a schedule to begin sessions in the training of individuals in the art of pitch and outfield preparation and general maintenance of sporting grounds.

“The discussions about pitch preparation are advanced and we are actually waiting now on the presenter to give us the timetable.

“We’re waiting on the number of hours and number of participants that can be handled in a session,” said Davis, while addressing a recent Observer Monday Exchange forum.

Just last year, UTech and the JCA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which among other things, is expected to help facilitate the elimination of “trial and error” practices of preparing playing surfaces.

Said Davis: “Generally, a groundsman in Jamaica is someone who comes to a ground and learns the trade as an apprentice because he likes doing it.

“In some sense it’s like trial and error. The science of preparation has gone way beyond that. If you go to the Lord’s (cricket ground in England) and some other places, a ground curator would have significant training. We want to introduce a system in Jamaica where people can go through formal training to become groundsmen.”

Pitches have come under heavy criticism in recent times and have been blamed as a major reason for a perceived underdevelopment in West Indies cricket.

Many cricket followers have identified batting surfaces which are too placid and slow-paced or ones which produce excessive spin and uneven bounce as being detrimental to the regional sport.

With the annual UTech Cricket Classic expected to be held by early next year, Davis explained that his vision is to have the participants certified at the end of the event.

“The idea is to have the training prior to the start of the next UTech Twenty/20 Classic. The pitch at UTech will be used as part of the training and participants would prepare it for the competition. At the end of it the participants would be receiving certification,” he said.

In the meantime, Davis, a graduate of UTech when it was known as the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST), said the plan to have promising cricketers enrolled at UTech will commence at the start of the upcoming school year, but said only four persons have been confirmed so far, instead of the previously announced eight.

“The first intake (of cricketers) is going to be at the start of this academic year at the end of August. We have actually identified four players who are going to be coming into the system, so you will hear more about that very shortly.

“We want to have eight persons but it (the addition of the other four) is subject to funds. Right now we have enough funds to cover four persons, but it’s a dynamic situation, so perhaps we might be able to eventually meet the target of eight,” he said.

The Papine-based university recently increased its scope of teaching programmes to include a Bachelor of Sports Science Degree with specialisations in Athletic Training, Sports Management, and the Art and Science of Coaching. The Faculty of Science and Sport was launched last year.

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Actually, it should come as no surprise that the superbly pruned track and field star should be connected with football. After his career was torpedoed by the dope scandal, Johnson shifted his gaze to soccer, reportedly having even trained the Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

He explains his tryst with the Beautiful game: “In Jamaica , cricket and soccer are very popular. As a kid, though, I always wanted to be an athlete although I enjoyed soccer,” said Johnson who trains Gurveer and Karanveer in Canada.

Flashing back to that traumatic moment in Seoul almost a generation ago, Johnson maintains he is innocent and was framed while he goes on to explain his philosophy that has helped him hold his head high and get on with life after the crippling verdict in the South Korean capital. “You have to live with it through your lifetime. I can’t change it. I just live with it,” Johnson, 50, said.

“I will always remain an athlete at heart. If you look at my performance, I had the heart to run. I still love running. People were jealous of me and I was framed. I am still fast,” said Johnson, who has a granddaughter aged six.

Nearly 23 years later, Ben has scripted his autobiography called ‘Seoul to Soul’, which will be released on August 25. “I have written it on my own and it is self-published. It is about my childhood, days in Jamaica, Canada and then how my life changed in Seoul,” he said.

One thing about Johnson, however, hasn’t changed. His love for sport, speed and soccer.

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KUMAR SANGAKKARA, that most erudite of modern cricketers, chose as his topic for the annual MCC Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s last week “the Spirit of Sri Lanka’s Cricket”.

As much as he understandably dealt with the fascinating history of his lovely, but so frequently turbulent, homeland, there was much of relevance to West Indies cricket in what he said.

The game in Sri Lanka–if not the unimaginable trauma of the terrorist attack on the team bus in Lahore which Sangakkara experienced first hand and the effects of the only recently ended political violence that cost hundreds of thousands of lives–bears many comparisons to that in the Caribbean. So do the troubling developments of late to which Sangakkara also refers.

Introduced by the British colonisers, mainly missionaries, and largely the preserve of the privileged products of the elite schools, Ceylon, as it was known prior to its independence in 1948, produced several outstanding players. Yet it was not until 1981 that it gained full International Cricket Council (ICC) membership.

“We had a competitive team, with able players, but we were timid, soft and did not yet fully believe in our own worth as individual players or as a team,” Sangakkara observed. “I guess we were in many ways like the early West Indian teams: Calypso cricketers, who played the game as entertainers and lost more often than not albeit gracefully.”

“What we needed at the time was a leader,” he added. “A cricketer from the masses who had the character, the ability and above all the courage and gall to change a system, to stand in the face of unfavourable culture and tradition, unafraid to put himself on the line for the achievement of a greater cause.”

For West Indians, Frank Worrell was that initial leader. Clive Lloyd took up the baton a generation later. For Sri Lanka, it was, in Sangakkara’s word, “an immensely talented and slightly rotund Arjuna Ranatunga” who changed “the entire history of our cricketing heritage”.

Sangakkara noted another critical factor in Sri Lanka’s new-found toughness–the no-balling by an Australian umpire in 1995 of Muttiah Muralitheran, for throwing.

He described it as “an insult that would not be allowed to pass unavenged” and “the catalyst that spurred the Sri Lankan team on to do the unthinkable, become World Cup champions just 14 years after obtaining full ICC status”.

The West Indies had other incentives to propel them to world champions’ status–the advance to independence after the second World War, the appointment of Worrell as the first black captain, the commitment of Lloyd’s team to excellence and domination.

Yet, while Sangakkara acknowledges “the unifying impact” of the 1996 World Cup triumph and Sri Lanka’s continuation as a strong and competitive team, he is concerned about the direction which its administration took following 1996 and more recently.

With a few obvious differences (Sri Lankan cricket, indeed cricket nowhere else, has been so riven by the conflict between board and the players association as in the West Indies) much of Sangakkara’s observations are also applicable to the West Indies sharp decline.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka’s World Cup victory brought “money and power to the board and players”. If not to the same extent, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) treasury was boosted by lucrative television contracts, the staging of the 2007 World Cup and sponsorship.

According to Sangakkara, “accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in a mad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no consistent and clear administration”.

He said that, as long as he could remember, there were accusations of “vote buying and rigging, player interference due to lobbying from each side and even violence at the AGMs, including the brandishing of weapons and ugly fist fights”.

Such comments ring bells for anyone who has followed West Indies cricket over the past few years.

A Guyana Cricket Board official, reportedly investigating financial irregularities, has had acid thrown in his face. The outgoing president of the Jamaica Cricket Association was involved in a widely publicised “ugly fist fight” with the secretary.

Relations between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) have deteriorated to such an extent that there were reports of hostilities involving a chair at their last meeting. Otherwise worthy candidates, including former eminent players, are averse to get involved in the hostile politicking that accompanies elections for office at every level. And there has always been political pressure to explain why certain players are not chosen.

Lately, Trinidad and Tobago Sport Minister Anil Roberts wrote WICB president Julian Hunte asking about Lendl Simmons’ position. When Shivnarine Chanderpaul was omitted from the ODI squad this season, Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo carried a placard during the match at the Providence Stadium proclaiming “WICB is a disgrace”.

In Sri Lanka, political influence goes even further. Their teams still have been rubber-stamped by their sports minister. Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the heroes of their 1996 achievement, an outstanding player and, significantly, now a government MP, was specially chosen to make two farewell appearances on the current tour of England.

Sangakkara’s stated solution was for the ICC to suspend member boards “with any direct detrimental political interference and allegations of corruption and mismanagement”.

That is exactly what the game’s governing body decided to implement at its directors meeting in Hong Kong earlier this month, setting June 2013 as a deadline. Yet, just days later, Caricom decided, at its annual heads of government conference in St Kitts, to set up a sub-committee to look into the problems in West Indies cricket.

“This matter craves the attention of the heads of government,” said Jagdeo, he of the “WICB is a disgrace” sign.

“Some people want it, some are going to say we can’t manage our own things so we shouldn’t poke into cricket.”

At a time when governments were wrangling over the supposed safety of a regional low-budget airline, immigration and much else besides and were still undecided on the Caribbean Court of Justice, he was dead right.

As bad as cricket administration appears, in Sri Lanka, West Indies or anywhere else, it can’t be improved with government involvement.

The WICB, every regional board and the West Indies Players Association would do well to heed Sangakkara’s mantra: “The administration needs to adopt the same values enshrined by the team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline.

“Unless the administration is capable of becoming more professional, forward-thinking and transparent then we risk alienating the common man. Indeed, this is already happening”and it is not the administrators or players that sustain the game. It is the cricket-loving public.”

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Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

President of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Lyndel Wright, says his association is pleased with the progress of the Social Development Commission (SDC) Community Twenty20 Competition, which is now entering its final stages of the 2011 season.

Speaking at Thursday’s launch of the national stage of the competition at the Knutsford Court Hotel, Wright, who was recently elected president of the association, said the competition is properly organised and helping to spread the game into numerous communities.

“We at the JCA are pleased that the SDC Community T20 exists, as via this competition the sport is able to inspire and motivate many,” said Wright.

“It is organised, and from all reports is run in a disciplined manner. These are hallmarks of a great competition and it is no wonder that so many players, national and otherwise, chose to further hone their skills by participating,” he added.

The competition which, according to the organisers, engages two-thirds of the 783 communities in Jamaica, will see the national stage comprising 16 teams – 14 parish champions, plus Portmore and the best second-place team.

The teams will then challenge each other in round-robin format beginning this weekend, with the winners advancing to the competition’s quarter-finals, which is slated to begin on Sunday, August 21.

knockout round

The quarter-finals, as well as the semi-finals, will be contested using a knockout format, with the feature quarter-final game slated for Jacks River in the community of Eden Park, St Mary.

The Ultimate Cricket Ground in St Ann will then host the feature semi-final clash on the weekend of Sunday, August 28, while the final, which is slated for Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth, will be staged on Sunday, September 4.

The overall winners will take home $600,000, runners-up $300,000, third place $200,000, while the team finishing fourth will pocket $100,000.

The competition, in addition to its cricketing value, forms part of the SDC mandate of enlightening Jamaicans about the power of community intervention, the Government’s Vision 2030 Jamaica campaign, and the agencies’ services.

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Patrick Rousseau, Contributor

Since Dr Ernest Hilaire continues to ignore the Code of Ethics and practices required by the code, I will lay out for him the several rules he has ignored. I also wish to suggest to the president of the Jamaica Cricket Association, only recently elected, that he must display the courage that allowed General Montgomery to be victorious at the second battle of El Alamein in the Desert War and file a report of the Chris Gayle breach of the code as he is allowed to do by Section 3, 1.1-(f) of the code.

For the information of the president, this report is filed in his capacity as president pursuant to Section 3, 2.1 (b) with the chief cricket operations officer. This simple step will trigger a procedure that ends up with the matter being placed before the Disciplinary Committee of the WICB. Such a step will instantly put an end to the questionable manoeuvrings of Dr Hilaire.

The Gayle Affair will now have to be dealt with following the procedure in Section 3 of the code, including the serving on Gayle of the accusation against him, and giving him 10 days to submit his response. Thereafter, the matter is referred to the Disciplinary Committee.

In the event that Dr Hilaire does not read his own code, I am emphasising that almost every rule under the code that deals with the disciplinary procedure indicates that the reference of the matter to anyone designated in the rules must be “as soon as reasonably practicable”.

Code of conduct extracts

I list some interesting extracts from the code of conduct indicating why fairness and an even-handed approach are essential in dealing with the code, and this appears to have escaped Dr Hilaire. They are:

The code of conduct applies to all players and officials, whether on or off the field.

All players and officials are expected to conduct themselves at all times in a fair, honest, sportsmanlike and courteous manner.

The code shall be enforced in accordance with procedures laid down in these rules.

And perhaps Dr Hilaire can explain why he has ignored this one: The chief executive officer of the WICB may lodge a report with the chief cricket operations officer within 10 business days of becoming aware of any facts which are capable of substantiating a charge under this code.

I think Dr Hilaire should share with the public by what measure he could describe his treatment of Chris Gayle as having been conducted in a “fair and honest manner”.

Equally, I would like Dr Hilaire to tell me why he has not pursued Professor Hilary Beckles in the same manner over his very offensive statement about Gayle where he claims, quite absurdly, that he was speaking in his personal capacity. The professor should remove himself from the board before he is thrown off for his remarks. It is impossible to speak critically about West Indies cricket and its players in a personal capacity while holding the post of a member of the board of directors. Even more disturbing was that the remarks related to an individual player by name, which means that he can no longer sit in any capacity at the board and exercise fair judgement on Gayle. This should automatically disqualify him from the board and all its committees.

In reviewing the comments made by Gayle, and since no official complaint has been made by the WICB, I have assumed, based on comments made by Dr Hilaire in one of his many pronouncements to the press, that Gayle is alleged to have offended Rule 6 and/or Rule 9, which read:

6. Players and team officials must not, at any time, engage in behaviour unbecoming that could bring the game of cricket into disrepute or be harmful to the interests of cricket.

9. Players and team officials shall not make public or media comment which is detrimental to the interests of the game.

As the prosecutor, judge and jury, Dr Hilaire has penalised and ill-treated Gayle, running him around from one group to another, without his being afforded his right to natural justice and the protection that it provides.

Gayle is without the benefit of a formal charge and an opportunity to defend himself before the very tribunal the WICB clothes with the authority to hear these matters.

In my 18-20 years of attending board meetings, I have never seen any player or official treated in this unfair and vile manner by any board official. Dr Hilaire must move rapidly to commence the “fair and honest” process prescribed by the code of conduct and give Gayle the opportunity to defend himself.

Patrick Rousseau is an attorney-at-law and former president of the WICB. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

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