The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie’s tenure as chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has seen him not only involved in dialogue on matters of state but also in matters of sport.

On Monday Mr Christie, along with Fred Mitchell in his capacity as foreign minister as chair of the Community Council, attended a special meeting in St George’s, Grenada, regarding the crisis in West Indian cricket.

The meeting was also attended by three other prime ministers - Keith Mitchell of Grenada, Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda. West Indies are playing England in a test match this week in Grenada.

Addressing the House of Assembly yesterday on the details and impact of the meeting, Mr Mitchell reported it had been convened to seek a way forward for West Indian cricket which is in crisis.

“The issue facing the region is that the cultural life of the region and the history of the game are intimately tied up with the region’s reputation, image and sense of self,” Mr Mitchell said.

“The West Indies team in its present incarnation continues to underperform and to lose in the international arena. This was a sport which the region dominated in the latter half of the 20th century. It provides a sense of identity for young people throughout the region and provides a good living for scores of West Indian youngsters around the globe.”

With a deep-rooted history in international cricket, the region is credited with producing some of the greatest names in the sport, a trend which the group seeks to recapture.

“The game’s greatest players come from the region, including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Vivian Alexander Richards and Brian Lara. Both Sir Garfield and Sir Viv attended the meeting and pledged their support for the re-organisation and rebranding of the sport,” Mr Mitchell said.

“The prime minister was asked in his capacity as chair of CARICOM to lend the weight of his office to a call to the West Indies Cricket Board, the operating entity for West Indies Cricket to change the way of doing business in order to reverse the losing trend and rescue the game from disaffection from young people.  Cricket is said to be the second most popular spectator sport in the world after football (soccer).”

Officially listed as the national sport of the Bahamas and the oldest team sport played in the country, cricket is one of the most popular sports in the region.

“While the game is not as popular in this country as it is in the rest of the region, it was important for our prime minister representing his office as chair and our country to lend its weight to the enterprise of saving the sport,” Mr Mitchell said.

“The wider lessons are similar to those that we face in this country with regard to sports. It is clear that if young people are not nurtured in the sport and convinced of its usefulness, both for recreation and for work, then the sport will die. Thankfully, the West Indies Cricket Board agreed going forward with the request of the prime ministers to a special committee of persons from across the region to work with the Board to examine the question of its governance and to plot a way forward which might reverse the negative trends in the sport.”

While local cricket has undergone issues of its own it recent years, the Bahamas was able to put on a stellar showing in 2014 when they hosted and captured the Nagico T20 tournament.

The Bahamas will host the event for a second time this year May 24-25 at Windsor Field. The two-day event, which is now expected to become a permanent fixture on the Bahamas Cricket Association’s calendar, will be held in conjunction with the Guyana Independence celebrations.