Stakeholders demand more passion from JCA
Former Jamaica and West Indies cricketer Nehemiah Perry is concerned about the direction of local cricket under the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA).
Perry says that not enough focus is being given to cricket at the junior level and it is affecting the quality of players at the national level.
He says that he wants Jamaica’s best cricketing minds to meet and find a solution.
“When we see that fewer schools are playing cricket in the rural and corporate areas, there’s a lot to be concerned about,” Perry told the Jamaica Observer.
Perry says that the JCA should be more involved in cricket at the secondary school level, and that it is doing the sport a disservice by having tournaments such as the Grace Shield under the control of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA).
“When you hear comments that ISSA is the one that runs school cricket and programmes and the JCA has no stake in that, then it is alarming,” he said. “If you are the governing body for cricket in Jamaica, and ISSA is running the programme, it’s not good. ISSA’s mandate is not the improvement of cricket. Its mandate is to put the programme together, organise the school cricket, organise other sports. The problem is the JCA needs to have a hand in it as it relates to the planning, the coaches who are at the schools, to ensure that these youngsters are getting proper coaching.”
Perry says if the schools are not producing enough quality cricketers, there will be a shrunken national pool of players for selection.
While he did not name specific JCA individuals, Perry says there are people who just want to be a part of the body for the status it carries.
“We have to get everybody on board who is interested in improving Jamaica’s cricket,” he said. “I don’t care who is there, the board’s fundamental role is to get people in a position that will help. Not just people who just want to be a part of something and just want to be a director of JCA. We want people to be accountable and to take responsibility for Jamaica’s cricket.”
These comments are shared by newly appointed Westmoreland Cricket Association President Deltonio Williams, who says that there are not enough passionate stakeholders involved in Jamaica’s cricket.
“Whoever is going up for the presidency, they have to show that they are ready to take cricket in hand, in order to get Westmoreland’s vote,” Williams said.
Williams says that Jamaica’s cricket is bogged down by politics, which he says is worse than that of the Government’s.
Perry had shown interest in the JCA presidency ahead of the last election but then withdrew his nomination after reconsideration.
He says that while he still has an interest, his roles as manager at Guardian Life Insurance and also as club captain of the Kingston Cricket Club have made him too busy to offer himself to cricket as he wants to.
The Observer reached out to the JCA for a comment but calls to its personnel went unanswered.