It's been two weeks but not too late, we trust, to register in this space our congratulations to the Jamaica senior team for winning the regional four-day cricket title for an unprecedented third straight season.

Say what you will about the quality of cricket in the Caribbean, but it is obvious that there are some things that are being done right in Jamaica.

It's not just the senior team that has done well. Age group teams have been admirably consistent and successful in recent years. The Jamaica Under-15s are defending champions entering this year's regional tournament in Easter; the Under-19s won both the three-day and 50-overs titles last year in Jamaica. The women's team has also come into its own despite the absence of a comprehensive programme. The senior women won the regional title in 2008 and placed second last year while the juniors are defending champions.

Captain of the Jamaica senior men's team, Mr Tamar Lambert, and the entire Jamaica camp can argue with justification that they have won over the last two years without ever being at full strength. Their premier batsman and West Indies captain Mr Christopher Gayle was absent for all of the extended season in 2009 and again in the season just ended because of obligations with the regional team and also because of contracts on the professional circuit. Others were also absent last year for similar reasons.

This year, top fast bowler Mr Jerome Taylor has been unavailable to both Jamaica and the West Indies because of injury. Jamaica's most successful batsman this season, Mr Wavell Hinds, played only three games because of West Indies duties. The same was true for another top batsman, Mr Brendan Nash, and the highly successful left-arm spinner, Mr Nikita Miller.

Mr Lambert, who suffered the indignity of being left out of the Jamaica one-day team last year because of unfitness, will be particularly satisfied because of his growing reputation as a captain. He is now easily among the most successful Jamaican captains of all time.

By taking three titles in a row, the coach, Mr Junior Bennett, has also swept to the top of the coaching list. A quiet, unpretentious man who, unlike many other coaches in regional and international cricket, never played the first class game, Mr Bennett is being rewarded for dedication and an unswerving inclination to plan carefully.

Like Mr Bennett, the technical director/manager of Jamaica's cricket, Mr James Adams, the former West Indies captain and middle order batsman, is deadly serious and focused. After two seasons in the job, Mr Adams has established his imprint on the national programme. This newspaper believes that only more good can come of his presence.

A man often missed in the Jamaica cricket programme is the fitness trainer, Mr David Bernard. As he did last year when the season was twice as long and arduous, Mr Bernard made a huge difference. Those who watch cricket know that among the big advantages of the Jamaica team in regional competition is its fitness. That's Mr Bernard's doing. Since he started in 1983, he has been doing the job as national fitness trainer with distinction. He is surely deserving of national recognition.

We note with approval that the Jamaica Cricket Association is seeking to innovatively build on the success of the national team with its planned cricket festival in April.

As is the case throughout the Caribbean, there is much wrong with cricket in Jamaica. The club structure, for example, is in serious disrepair. Two or three of our revered clubs are barely hanging on. But even as we seek to find ways to correct the ills, let's celebrate the good things.

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