Players' attitudes may be game's real dilemma (21 July 1999)

21 July 1999

Players' attitudes may be game's real dilemma

Tony Becca

In recent years, the standard of Jamaica's cricket has declined and many people, in and outside the sport, have been asking why.

One reason, obviously, is the poor leadership provided by the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control. There are, however, other reasons, and as disappointing as the elected leaders have been, many of those who are pointing fingers are just as guilty.

The guilty include ex-players who benefitted from the assistance of those before them but who now stand aside, criticise, and do nothing to assist in the development of young players.

Also club officials who pay little attention to the development of players, schools which no longer promote the game, and also, like the ex-players, those in the society who constantly lament the declining standards and have all the answers but who are too busy to get involved and who never get involved - neither at the school level nor the club level.

There is, of course, another reason, and that is the attitude of the players themselves.

Sport mirrors a society, no sport does so more than cricket and the general attitude of the society's young men in almost every aspect of life is reflected in their approach to the game.

The majority of today's players, for example, do not train as often or as seriously as the players of yesterday and, on top of that, apart from a few, there appears to be little pride in performance. Today, players no longer play the game because they love the game or because they want to be the best.

According to those Senior Cup players appearing in the hotel league, today's players play the game because of money.

In a changing world, in a world in which survival is the order of the day, in a world in which money is important to survival and in a world in which professional sport has become big business, nothing is wrong with trading one's skills for money - and the more the better.

Sport, however, is still sport and as necessary as money is, there should still be pride in performance and therefore a driving ambition to do well - to give it your best shot every time.

That, however, again according to the players' own words, does not seem to be the case and despite the inefficiencies of the board and the hands-off attitude of ex-players and company, maybe that is the real reason why the standard of Jamaica's cricket has declined.

The St. Ann/St. Mary Hotel Cricket Association's league offers thousands of dollars to "guest" players, many of the country's leading players play in the league and, in their own words as reported in last Sunday's Gleaner, they do so because of the money. Nothing is wrong with that. What is wrong is the hint that they do not train hard enough or give of their best in the Senior Cup because there is no money in that competition.

Robert Samuels of Melbourne, Jamaica and the West Indies: "If players, some of whom might not have a chance to play for Jamaica again, know that after rushing from work in the evenings to practice they will get some form of incentive during or after the competition, they will give an extra effort and the standard would definitely be improved."

Raymond Ferguson of Kingston CC and Jamaica: "I really think the cricket board should try and see if sponsors can provide some form of incentives for the Senior Cup. That would make the competition far more competitive."

Kevin Murray of Kensington: "You are being paid to play so you put out a lot more than in the Senior Cup."

The world has changed, no question about that, everyone wants money for whatever he does, sport in general and cricket in particular is no different, and every effort should be made to reward the players - certainly those who are good enough to deserve it.

The question here, however, is this: are these players telling their clubs and their club members that because there is no money in the Senior Cup there is no incentive for them to train, no incentive for them to give of their best, and that they have not been giving of their best while representing them - even though they (the clubs and their members) find the funding to provide the facilities so that they play the game they love, so that they can develop themselves, and so that those with the talent, the dedication and the commitment can reach the top?

Apart from the County Championship, the Senior Cup, in its present structure, is the top competition in the country, it is the competition which prepares the players to represent Jamaica, and what is even more important is this: are the players telling Jamaica that they do not take it seriously?

If that is so, if there is no longer any pride in performance, then not only have times really changed, but Jamaica's cricket is really in serious trouble.

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