Senior Cricket Administrator Urges Private Sector Support for Secondary School Cricket Growth

A senior cricket administrator says that private sector support is needed to grow and develop the game at the secondary school level. Gregory Nicholls, Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) secretary, made the remarks at the closing ceremony for the BCA Under-15 Three-Day Championship on Thursday.

Nicholls Baking Combermere won their second title in a row, defeating Milo Lodge by nine wickets at the Rubis playing field in Brighton. Led by captain Justin Parris and fellow national all-rounder Hahidi Hinds, the repeat champions also took the lion’s share of the individual prizes.

Barbados won three age-group trophies in Cricket West Indies competitions this past summer, including the Under-19 Two-Day and 50-Over, as well as the Under-17 Two-Day. All of the players involved would have come through the school system and tournaments like this one.

Nicholls contends that the sport is in robust condition in Barbados at the minute, especially at the school level.

“Let me thank all of you for participating in a successful final today,” he began. “We have a winner and we have a loser, but first of all I think we should congratulate both teams for a very spirited performance on all of the days of the game.

“I have in recent times had more opportunity to look at the younger players of our game, having a son who’s just entered secondary school. And I’ve been watching the under eight competitions just after the covid period for the last couple years.

“And I am convinced, and I tell my colleagues on the board that at that level and it certainly was evidenced by the spirit way the game was played, cricket is healthy at this stage in Barbados.

“We have seen some very brilliant performances in the game and it was played with with the spirit I expect a Combermere and Lodge battle to be played, so congratulations again to both of you.”

As pleased as the BCA secretary is with the state of the game, he said the fly in the ointment is the lack of financial support for the emerging players.

“This competition has one flaw,” he lamented. “It is not the great coaching that has brought the two teams to the finals. It is not the umpires who have done work to ensure that the game is played fairly. The challenge that we face is not the parents who have supported you in buying gear and making sure you go to practice and your coaching sessions. It is not the coaches.

“The challenge we have,” he continued, “is that this competition does not have a sponsor. And in a society where we are asking young people to do positive things and engage themselves in wholesome activities, it is really a travesty in my view that corporate Barbados has abandoned the Under-15 cricket competition by giving no sponsorship at all.

“And I say that without any reservation because we can’t have these young men sacrificing their entire summer, the coaches, the parents, for no reward whatsoever. And we have to continue as a society to invest in young people. This tournament used to have a corporate sponsor and I’m saying that it’s time for a re look at how we treat our young people and in wholesome activities.”

Nicholls further noted that young cricketers are increasingly viewing the game as a career. He pointed out that players such as star Combermere all-rounders Jahidi Hinds and Justin Parris, as well as Liam Sealy and Shawnico Sargeant of Lodge, can have bright futures.

Both teams boasted relatively young lineups, with a number of players expected to renew the rivalry in this age group next year. Lodge coach Clifton Phillips opined on the live broadcast that his team is a year ahead of its four-year plan, with key players Sealy, Sargeant, Shakobi Gittens, and wicketkeeper Malikai Mason all set to return for next season.

Tournament Awards:

Most Runs: 515 , Jahidi Hinds (Combermere)

Most Wickets: 47, Justin Parris (Combermere)

Most dismissals, wicketkeeper: 5, Gavin Firebrace (Combermere) and Malikai Mason (Lodge)

Most Catches: 14, Justin Parris

Highest Innings Score: 127, Jahidi Hinds

(TF)