Jamaica: One more thing to do (25 Sep 1998)

25 September 1998

Jamaica: One more thing to do

The Jamaica Gleaner

Jamaica's national cricket selectors should be in high spirits - and after making some tough decisions and being praised, in many quarters, for doing so, they deserve to be.

The selection of a cricket team is never an easy job and apart from selecting Raymond Ferguson and Howard Harris, two batsman who are close to 30, in the 14-man squad for the Red Stripe Bowl limited-overs tournament, it could not, limited-over cricket or not, have been an easy decision to omit Leon Garrick - a young opening batsman who had a dream debut first-class season in 1997.

Successful people, however, are not those who are afraid to do what should be done, but those who do what should be done and for some time now Jamaica's cricketers needed to be sent a message.

Because of the selectors' emphasis on young players in recent years, older players believed they had no chance of representing their country some gave up the game and apart from those committed to their respective clubs, others played without a determination to succeed.

The result was that youngsters were left to play with and against each other at the club level, the standard of play fell away and the performance at the club level and by the national team was such that the fans stayed away in disgust.

Apart from the message sent to the older players who perform - a message which is obvious in the selection of Ferguson and Harris, the selectors, in the leaving out of a few of the younger batsmen who have not performed, who have not been performing, or who have started to behave like prima donnas and whose performance has suffered, are also sending a message to young players - fail to perform or fail to remain focussed and you will be dropped.

The selectors have done one good thing already and because of that Jamaica's cricket, in terms of participation and spectator support, should benefit.

Apart from ensuring they are consistent, however, if the selectors want to win, if they wish to be remembered as selectors who selected a winning team, they have another job to do. They now need to motivate the players who they have selected.

There has always been a feeling that a number of players who represent Jamaica have no real feeling for Jamaica - to the extent that they do not "feel" it when the team loses.

The players need to be motivated to represent Jamaica with the passion with which they represent not only for those who are lucky enough, the West Indies, but also their clubs.

If the selectors can achieve this then will indeed have every reason to be happy, to be satisfied and to be praised.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)