Merger should be 'mulled over'

Prior to the annual general meeting of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) on July 20, Sunday sun cricket correspondent Haydn Gill asked presidential candidate and former Long-standing Barbados Cricket League (BCL) president Owen Estwick what his views on a possible merger between the BCA and the BCL were. Here is Estwick's response: I believe a lot of investigation has to be done. People who make that judgement probably look only at the performance of the first division team.

"They do not pay enough attention to the fact that the BCL runs a domestic competition and that competition is still very, very vibrant.

"One only has to go to a BCL semifinal or a final. If you went to a BCL final at Blenheim, if you didn't get there at the beginning, you would have to park a couple hundred yards away in the side districts.

"BCL cricket is not dying, contrary to what people think.

"They narrowly look at the performance of the first division team. Incidentally, the first division team has continued to make a turnaround.

"Last year we started a policy of putting the emphasis on looking at youth players and some of the younger players from the schools are now finding their way into the BCL clubs.

"I predict that the BCL will again be a force to be reckoned with in the first division.

"There is another problem. There are a number of BCL clubs which do not have their own ground " they share grounds.

"Minimum requirement for entry to the BCA is that you have a ground in which the facility is up to the requisite standard.

"Clearly there are a number of BCL clubs which cannot meet those standards. They, therefore, cannot be absorbed.

"You have to look at what sort of structure you are thinking about before you get in the business of absorbing the BCL.

"It is something which will require lots of study and I don't see that study being concluded in less than five years."