THE success of Jamaica’s senior women cricketers at the regional level continues to mystify many who follow the game.

Early this year, the Jamaicans pulled off a stunning tournament turnaround to claim the regional Super50 Cup in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mostly getting by on limited resources, Jamaica’s women have won five cricket titles in as many years, among them the Twenty20 (T20) and Super50 double triumph in 2024.

Although the run has been outstanding, the argument has been made that the women’s team could have been even more successful with greater support from the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA).

“We have a group of ladies that is the most successful in the last decade. They have won more trophies than anybody, yet the preparation is watered down,” Shane Brooks, the coaching mastermind behind the senior women’s successes since 2022, told the Jamaica Observer after the triumph in St Vincent.

“What I’d love is for us to have a programme that’s operational, one that is running. We really don’t have a [women’s] cricket programme in the country. We gather a month, or sometimes two months, before a tournament — and that’s not sufficient.

“You’d like your international team to be prepared six months per year but there is no [local club] competition, there is no extended period for preparation. A lot of times these ladies find themselves on the injury list because of the crash course in getting them ready for a tournament,” the Jamaica coach said.

Jamaica Cricket Association President Dr Donovan Bennett

Jamaica finished fifth in the regional T20 tournament that preceded the Super50 Cup. And entering the final match day in the Super50, they were fifth before a dominant win against freshly crowned T20 champions Leeward Islands, racking up valuable bonus points which propelled them into first place.

“…We had a shorter time to prepare the team. We were not as sharp as we would have liked but the duration of the tournaments allowed us to get better each passing day,” Brooks reflected.

O’neil Cruickshank, JCA cricket operations and development manager, told the Observer that lack of funding and scheduling clashes have been major hindrances to consistently hosting local competition.

“We have always scheduled tournaments for females as part of our calendar. For one reason or another — mostly because of financing and timing — we have been unable to carry it out,” he said.

Cruickshank gave a hypothetical example of the JCA scheduling local women’s competition but then being forced to adjust plans because Cricket West Indies (CWI) may subsequently decide to stage a regional women’s tournament during the same window.

He noted that unavailability of elite Jamaican players who might be playing franchise cricket elsewhere has also contributed to rescheduling local competition.

“The JCA has staged local women’s competitions for the past couple years… but sometimes we miss out because the girls go to tournaments and when they come back, we don’t follow up to stage the competition. And that might happen because when they come back it might be a case of having national teams to prepare, and if at the time the cash flow is not able to run [both] we would prioritise the national team preparation,” Cruickshank explained.

He said, however, that plans are underway to stage both T20 and 50-over domestic tournaments this summer.

CRUICKSHANK… sometimes we miss out because the girls go to tournaments and when they come back, we don’t follow up to stage the competition (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Cruickshank admitted, too, that more needs to be done to ensure women cricketers are active on a more consistent basis.

JCA President Dr Donovan Bennett pointed to lack of funding as the main hindrance but argued that with limited resources, a talent identification programme has uncovered girls with cricketing potential.

“We have a very active ID programme [for youth players] that’s headed by [former national men’s coach] Junior Bennett who has been going around the island… and has been doing a lot of work to identify and develop young players. And the present coach [Brooks], who is a hard worker, has been very effective [in helping]… to develop these players at an early age,” the JCA boss told the Observer.

However Brooks, who also coaches the Jamaica Under-19 women’s team, noted there is the risk of being left behind if there isn’t an overhaul of the current arrangement.

He said the structure of women’s cricket in Jamaica pales in comparison to some of their regional rivals.

“Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, they are investing heavily in their female players, and they have programmes that are sustainable. They have players on contracts who are training 12 months a year, and we need to adopt that [system] so we can get our players performing better. We have experienced players who are just a class above who we are playing against,” said Brooks.

BROOKS… a lot of times these ladies find themselves on the injury list because of the crash course in getting them ready for a tournament

— Sanjay Myers