Jamaica Clubs: JCBC throws out protest (15 July 1999)
The sandals all-island limited over cricket final is on at the Kaiser Sports Club, Discovery Bay, on Saturday and, as was decided in the semi-finals at Sabina Park on Saturday and at Allan Rae Oval on Sunday, it will be defending champions Kingston
15-Jul-1999
15 July 1999
Jamaica Clubs: JCBC throws out protest
The Jamaica Gleaner
The sandals all-island limited over cricket final is on at the Kaiser
Sports Club, Discovery Bay, on Saturday and, as was decided in the
semi-finals at Sabina Park on Saturday and at Allan Rae Oval on
Sunday, it will be defending champions Kingston CC versus first-time
finalists Westmoreland.
After losing a thrilling encounter at Sabina Park, the Jamaica
Defence Force on Tuesday lodged a protest against Kingston CC's use
of Trinidad and Tobago representative Richard Smith and on Tuesday
night, at its monthly meeting, the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control
threw it out.
The JDF protest was made on the basis that although Smith is a member
of Kingston CC, he is not a citizen of Jamaica and, according to the
rules of the Jamaica Cricket Association, he should not have been
allowed to play unless he was resident in Jamaica for three months
before the game or was attending school in Jamaica.
Rule 18 of the JCA's general rules relative to competitions, the rule
which deals with residential qualifications, reads as follows:
"No member of a club, except the University of the West Indies,
college, or school, shall be allowed to play in any match in any
competition except he has been residing in the island for three
months preceeding such match, provided that this rule shall not apply
to members of a club absent from the island for a period not
exceeding one year and providing also that no disqualification in
this rule shall apply to members of clubs who may be citizens of
Jamaica."
Smith was registered by Kingston CC for the competition and the
board, through its chief executive officer, and accepted the
registration.
In throwing out the protest, the board argued Smith had played in the
Senior Cup last year and therefore a precedent had been set, that
because there is free movement around CARICOM states, there should be
free movement in cricket, and that when the rule was relaxed for the
County Championships which was started in 1997 the intention was to
relax the residential qualification for all its competitions.
The board also said that by its rules and regulations, it had the
power to change the rules for any of its competitions by a simple
two-thirds majority once there are no less than nine members present.
Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner