WHITE Horses Councillor Hubert Williams, who warned on Thursday that the parish is failing an entire generation of young players by neglecting the development of the sport, says cricket in St Thomas is being allowed to “drift on autopilot”.

Williams made the remarks during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Thomas Municipal Corporation during which a debate unfolded over the deteriorating state of cricket infrastructure, the loss of organised competitions, and uncertainty about which government agency now bears responsibility for developing the game in the parish.

The councillor, himself a supporter and contributor to cricket in St Thomas, argued that the sport had steadily declined over the past several years due to what he describes as poor investment and a lack of long-term planning.

“It is sad that today we’re speaking here and we don’t have one good cricket pitch, not one good cricket ground in this parish,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody can name one. We have some that we are trying with…and don’t tell me about Springfield and Heartease because Springfield is not a cricket pitch, and you can’t have a cricket pitch where footballers run over it. The last pitch we had that was a good pitch was the one over Good Year [Cricket Oval] — and it is now destroyed.”

The issue arose after Darlene McCalla, parish field supervisor for the Social Development Commission, explained that no Social Development Commission (SDC) cricket competition was being staged in the parish this year due to financial challenges and the lingering impact of Hurricane Melissa.

McCalla said the SDC no longer falls under the ministry responsible for sports, and now relies heavily on private sponsorship to organise competitions.

“One of our biggest sponsors was J Wray and Nephew, but because of the policy that you must have at least four schoolboys they said J Wray and Nephew cannot sponsor us anymore. So, since we lost that sponsorship we have been taking a battering,” she explained.

She added that while Lasco Finance, HEART/NSTA Trust, and another corporate entity assisted with sponsorship last year, companies are now hesitant because of damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

“So because we get sponsors from corporate, they are now looking down that side that was damaged by Melissa, so hence we didn’t get any funding this year,” McCalla told the meeting.

Williams, however, argued that Hurricane Melissa cannot continue to be used as justification for the lack of organised cricket activities in the parish, insisting that young athletes are being left behind while other sectors continue functioning.

“We’re not postponing CXC this year because of Melissa so we can’t become a nation that is only looking at the youth who might be bright in the classroom but the cricketers are left behind; it can’t be like that.”,” he said. “

He warned that the neglect of grass roots cricket could have long-term consequences for talented youngsters whose futures may depend on sports.

“We’re really killing the future of maybe a future millionaire here,“ he said. ”Melissa happened last year. All of us as politicians and as civil servants are still getting paid this year even though Melissa happened, so we cannot continue blaming Melissa. We know she’s a bad girl but we left her a long time ago; we have to move on.”

Williams says rebuilding cricket in the parish must begin with proper playing facilities, arguing that no serious cricket programme can survive without at least one top-quality pitch.

“Now, I believe it only makes sense — and if we want to move cricket forward in the parish — is to ensure that we at least have one good pitch where a youngster can feel proud to have a match. And I really expect SDC to lead the process in reviving cricket in the parish — and everybody who ever played cricket and is a supporter of cricket knows that we can’t have good cricket without a good cricket ground,” he said.

McCalla later clarified that organised cricket has not disappeared entirely from the parish, noting that the St Thomas Cricket Association is still hosting matches independently of the SDC.

Williams nevertheless maintained that the broader issue is the absence of sustained leadership and structured development for the sport.

“I’m saying over the last, maybe, half of a decade SDC has been the organisation that steers the cricket competitions. Now if for some reason SDC is unable to continue I think the discussion must be had in terms of the future of our cricket and which agency of government is going to lead the process. It can’t be a thing where we just leave it on autopilot like that,” he said.

Councillor for the White Horses Division Hubert Williams speaks during a meeting of the St Thomas Municipal Corporation on Thursday. (Photo: Jerome Williams)

Darlene McCalla responds to concerns during a meeting of the St Thomas Municipal Corporation over the declining state of cricket in the parish on Thursday. She explained that the Social Development Commission no longer receives direct funding for the sport and now depends heavily on corporate sponsorship.Jerome Williams