IN an era where regional cricket is making a negligible impact on the international game, the historic feat engineered by the local authorities and executed by Tamar Lambert and the Jamaica senior team should be regarded as a catalyst for change.

When one recalls that prior to the late 1980s, Jamaica had secured only a solitary regional four-day title — courtesy of Easton McMorris’ side in 1969 — maybe the time for declaring the maturation of our cricketing vision and structure is at hand.

Before the leadership wizardry of Marlon Tucker broke a longstanding jinx which was in existence for some 17 years, Jamaica played a protracted second fiddle to the Eastern Caribbean islands — Barbados, in particular — despite producing a proliferation of world-class players on a fairly consistent basis.

Somehow, however, we were never able to get it right insofar as winning titles was concerned. A popular theory that emerged after Tucker’s heroics between 1987-1989 was that Jamaica always lacked an inspirational captain; one who was born to lead and who possessed that magical insight which made his every move the epitome of the ‘Midas touch’.

When it is further considered that players like Maurice Foster, Lawrence Rowe, Michael Holding, Richard Austin, Everton Mattis, Herbert Chang, Jeffery Dujon, Robert Haynes, Jimmy Adams, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, Delroy Morgan, and so many others, were a part of respective Jamaican teams during that era, the lengthy drought befuddles the imagination, yet validates the aforesaid notion.

However, after dismantling Barbados on the way to an unprecedented five successive titles last Monday, the Jamaicans did sufficient to herald a new day in our cricket history and breathe life into a sport that, in large measure, was in urgent need of resuscitation.

That the team was able to triumph in such regal fashion by winning all six preliminary-round games, then dismiss Guyana in the semi-final and Barbados in the final, is reason for massive celebration.

Further, by winning some 11 titles since 1987, including a record five on the trot, suggests that this sport-loving nation is doing something right by way of its cricket and could be the elusive paradigm so desperately needed by the West Indies to put their house in order.

The magnitude of this fifth consecutive triumph, which must have given coach Junior Bennett immense inner satisfaction after being temporarily replaced by Trinidadian Gus Logie, must not be lost on fans of this glorious game. For, it must be borne in mind that for the majority of the season, we were without our most eminent players.

To my mind, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell, Brendan Nash, Jerome Taylor and Carlton Baugh Jnr, who are all plying their trade elsewhere, remain important components of the team. Singly and collectively, almost all are authentic match-winners on their day and in fact, could have been representing the West Indies had the myriad circumstances in the region’s cricket been different.

Against this background, the tenacity of the technical team of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and the sheer pride of the players themselves must have been the secret to this success. Indeed, they should be lauded accordingly.

Happily, this equation is also an indication of the depth of our game and the quality players at our disposal. In this regard, plaudits are in order for the developmental programmes at the school and club levels, despite their imperfections, and the negligible support from both corporate and public entities.

Despite the recent successes of the nation’s teams in regional competition, including the Women and the age-group outfits, we cannot, however, be so overcome by euphoria that we ignore the glaring shortcomings of the domestic game. These include the shortened club season and lack of sponsorship, as well as an administrative lethargy in stimulating public support at the grassroots level.

In identifying the winning formulae on the field of play, Lambert, who obviously stands apart as the best skipper in the region, is an excellent starting point. As has previously been stated in this space, the burly all-rounder possesses a mature cricketing brain way beyond his years and is a direct throwback to Tucker, who was such an outstanding leader at all levels in the region.

In similar vein are the ‘spin twins’ of Nikita Miller and Odean Brown who continue to bemuse batsmen with their experience and guile. Significantly, also, both continue to expose the ineptness of regional players to spin and until there is vast improvement in this area, one envisions a perpetuation of Jamaican dominance in the ensuing years.

Again, pacer Andrew Richardson and batsmen Donovan Pagon and Lambert himself were consistent, if not outstanding, which points to the overall team effort on display that contributed immensely to the retention of the Headley/Weekes Trophy.

In light of this latest achievement, it should not be business as usual as regards rewarding the Jamaican cricketers who have made huge sacrifices to bring glory to their country. It is my hope that the powers that be move apace to honour this accomplishment in a most tangible manner, thus setting the stage for even more successes.

As the popular saying goes, ‘encouragement sweetens labour’. Indeed, our cricketers have toiled assiduously to deliver a fitting 50th Anniversary gift.