Hitting Out: Clubs must report

For several seasons the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has had a problem with teams failing to submit match reports.

The end result is that there are difficulties in preparing updated and accurate points standings.

Whenever the BCA released standings in mid-season, newspapers were bombarded with complaints from clubs. The clubs would say they earned more points than they were credited for. We then have to point out to them that we were only publishing what we received from the BCA.

This year, the problem has been much worse.

In releasing standings on September 27, the BCA said that almost 100 of the 120-odd teams in its competitions consistently failed to send in match reports.

It was a hot topic for discussion during last Saturday's Sports Everywhere programme on VOB 92.9 FM.

There was a feeling in one quarter that the BCA should appoint an individual to liaise with clubs in an effort to secure results.

Is it not easier for 100 people to contact a local sports association than for one sports association to make contact with 100 people?

A view was also put forward that the BCA needed to meet the clubs halfway. During the discussion, no one wanted to come out and blame the clubs, but my view is that the clubs must take most of the responsibility.

The same way in which they adhere to the basic rules of the game, they should adhere to the BCA's Special Conditions And Regulations Of Play.

I do not accept the view that the clubs will have difficulty in getting results to the BCA because they do not have a paid professional to do so.

The BCA is not asking for a comprehensive breakdown of every single ball of a match. Surely, it will not call for much to report that Team A made 198 and 164 and Team B made 187 and 143.

I don't believe that the BCA wants results an hour after the match is completed. It therefore should not be a problem in getting the information in within five days after a match finishes.

Some may want to say that many of the clubs are not centrally-located, but in this day and age, we have access to reliable postal and telephone services and modern communications services like e-mail and fax machines. The one and only solution to the problem is to send a strong message to the clubs.

The BCA must tell them that it will proceed with the calculation of its standings based on results they have received plain and simple. Teams will only get the point after they have been taught a lesson.

My understanding is that two school teams in a neighbouring Caribbean island were expelled from a competition for failing to submit results. That might be too harsh a measure, but we must get the message across.

Haydn Gill is The Nation's Cricket Correspondent.