Some in sport often naively see their fraternity as somehow divorced from wider social/political/economic aspects and issues.

The sudden loss of the Jamaica leg of the South Africa tour of the Caribbean because of social instability and the resulting limited State of Emergency should be a wake-up call as to how easily and massively outside influences can in fact affect sport.

Not only will thousands of die-hard Jamaican fans have to do without international cricket at Sabina Park this year, but there will be significant economic fall-out.

For the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), the switch of the fifth One-Day International and the first Test to Trinidad and Tobago means revenue that was anxiously anticipated will not now materialise. Hotels in Kingston, caterers, vendors, transport providers are among those in the service sector that will also feel the pinch.

Given the extreme instability and the fact that the High Command of the Jamaican security forces could not commit itself to providing dedicated security, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had no choice but to make the switch.

Some have argued that the Jamaica leg could have been moved to the three-year-old Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium, near normally tranquil Falmouth on the island’s north-west coast, where the State of Emergency does not apply. But such a move would have required an uncertain scramble at very short notice to get the pitch square and other facilities ready at a venue that has never been used for this level of international cricket. This newspaper cannot blame the authorities for being unwilling to take the risk.

Also, it seems to us, the issue of security would have remained uncertain despite the distance from the areas which fall under the State of Emergency. The JCA’s decision, announced on Thursday, to postpone all local cricket under its aegis “until further notice” would seem to confirm this view.

Of course, cricket is not the only sport being badly affected. A number of activities in other disciplines have been postponed or cancelled. We note that netball has been hit hard since the National Arena on which it is heavily dependent is now inaccessible because it is being used by the security forces as a detention centre.

All those in sport will have reason to join other Jamaicans in hoping that the current situation is stabilised as speedily as possible so that the fraternity can return to normality.

However, we would expect that the fraternity will also join all well-thinking Jamaicans in urging the authorities to do whatever is necessary within the ambit of the law to capture the criminals and wrongdoers. If that process causes inconvenience for the rest of us, so be it.

Sport, just like any other sector, requires peace and stability in the wider society to properly develop and sustain itself.