Barbados: Short for promotion and relegation system (21 May 1998)

Thursday, May 21, 1998

Short for promotion and relegation system

Barbados Nation

FORMER president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Peter Short is supporting the introduction of a promotion and relegation system in BCA competitions.

Short said he had opposed such a change when he presided over the BCA but he thought the time was now right to introduce it.

"There could well be a case, on a trial basis, to see whether it gives added impetus and incentive (to BCA cricket)," he said on 900 AM's Best and Mason on Tuesday night.

He said that some struggling teams, particularly in the lower divisions, found it difficult to field teams when they got close to the end of the season.

"If they were going to be relegated they may take a different view," he said. "I think it is worth a try. It has worked in other leagues and I think we should try it in Barbados as well."

Short said he believed there were too many teams playing in the 14-team Division 1.

"Barbados' cricket was at its strongest when we had eight teams in the First Division," he said. "I believe ten is probably the best."

At least one should be a schools team, Short said.

The former president also said he supports a review of the Premier Zone of the Intermediate Division because it was not fulfilling the role for which it was intended.

Short also said he was loath to criticise the BCA board since he had worked with many of its members.

"But the truth is that as a board, in recent times, they have been so many blunders that with the best will in the world, they haven't functioned very well."

On the regional scene, Short, who is a former president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), said he feared Antigua and Barbuda's participation in the Commonwealth Games cricket tournament could lead to fragmentation in the regional game.

"I could see red lights flashing," he said, adding, however, that there was no question that Antigua and Barbuda were up to the standard.

Short noted that the point was that the Antiguans had been trying to play as a separate unit, apart from the Leeward Islands, in WICB competitions.

"Now this will give them more power, and will make them feel stronger."

But he said that an Antiguan break would not necessarily be in the interest of West Indies cricket.

"Suppose Antigua were taken out and recognised by the WI board, what will it leave with the Leewards: St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla and Montserrat? Can they sustain a first-class team?"

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)