ON occasions this newspaper has found reason to identify amateurism as a major factor hampering the development of sport as an industry in Jamaica and the wider region.

It’s no accident that schoolboy football and the boys’ and girls’ athletics championships attract more spectators than any other activity on the Jamaican sporting calendar.

An unprofessional, amateurish mindset explains near disaster in mid-year when, with international football engagements just around the corner, grand gala and other celebrations at the National Stadium seriously damaged the playing surface.

In our view, amateurism at the administrative level explains the poor state of football playing surfaces, and sporting facilities in general, across the country.

An instinctively amateurish approach meant that even as the rest of the cricketing world embraced professionalism: setting up youth academies, nurseries, coaching programmes, and modern administrative systems, Jamaica and the wider West Indies remained largely unmoved, yet, expect to succeed as previously.

And we suspect that an amateurish mindset — allied to lukewarm interest — influenced the Jamaican Government’s decision earlier this year to decline hosting rights for next June’s ICC Twenty20 (T20) Cricket World Cup.

Now comes news that the proud cricket franchise, Jamaica Tallawahs, will not feature in the 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

This, after the owners — disgusted with what they describe as lack of support from the Jamaican Government — gave up the Tallawahs and will instead take charge of a franchise based in Antigua and Barbuda for the next CPL campaign.

We recall Sports Minister Ms Olivia Grange’s explanation in September as to why the Government declined to host the T20 World Cup.

She said back then: “We had been considering the cost and source of funding of nearly half a billion [Jamaican] dollars to host a few games… In our cost/benefit analysis with stakeholders we also considered the economic, social and development impact, including the potential tourism-related impact and attendant industry benefits using year-over-year economic modelling, reconciled against current tourism performance… It was a robust exercise in which we considered different permutations, including the option not to bid…”

We wonder: Did our Government recognise that cricket is among the fastest-growing segments of the global sports industry? That Jamaica — like its Caribbean neighbours — should be aggressively pushing to command a niche in this rapidly evolving business?

Business leader and ICC 2007 Cricket World Cup administrator Mr Chris Dehring reminds us that, “Globally, cricket as a sport is in massive growth mode. Just look at the astounding viewership numbers for the last 50-over Cricket World Cup and all the new leagues popping up all over, including in the United States. Meanwhile, it feels like the sport in Jamaica is on life support and the plug is about to be pulled at the wrong time.”

And further, that “…probably four of the top five-earning active sportspeople in Jamaica are cricketers. We can produce many more to fill the needs of pro leagues around the world but that pipeline will suffer if the sport isn’t maintained here to continue feeding it”.

Ms Grange has pledged that $100 million will be spent on youth cricket development over the next five years.

In real monetary terms that’s little more than a drop in the bucket but, by all means, the Government must be held to that commitment.