Cricket in a mess

Just as there is settlement of one damaging dispute at regional level, another arises in Barbados to further heighten public disenchantment with a sport once revered as a religion on this island.

Increasingly in this antagonistic age, the courts have been called upon to rule on disagreements between sporting organisations and members.

Whatever the opposing arguments in the latest court challenge - Bristol's objection to the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) decision to promote the UWI and another combined youth team, and not them, to the top division this season - it is staggering that it could halt the start of an entire annual tournament that has survived and grown for over 100 years and produced some of the game's greatest players.

Heaven knows how much longer the delay will last. If not soon, by the time the first ball is bowled keen, talented young men who were all primed for action yesterday might well have found other sporting ways to pass their time on a weekend.

It is no wonder our cricket is in such a mess.