WI local:Across the board: Focus must be on youth

As previously indicated, we are this week presenting the edited statements of the Competitions and Stakeholder Relations groups at the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) recent two-day meeting on Cricket Development Strategy in Antigua.

Jackie Hendriks (Competitions)

"We looked at the whole structure of competitions from Kiddy Cricket (ages 5-9) to primary school cricket to the Under-15s, Under-17s and Under-19s-all the levels at which we can offer youngsters proper coaching and teach them the fundamentals of the game.

"We recognise that we have to try and lure these fellows towards cricket since there are a lot of other (sporting) attractions such as basketball and soccer, so developing our competitions is part of this (campaign to steer youngsters towards cricket). We have to try and get schools to co-operate with us, to try and get cricket back into more schools.

"There is a fear that with the proliferation of American sports we will not be able to compete for the youth's attention so we have to try and keep up with what these sports can offer, especially incentives. We looked at awarding tangible incentives to young cricketers to make them and their parents realise there is a future in cricket.

"As for the senior regional competition-the Busta Cup-we agreed it needs improvement and looked at three ways of getting more matches: having two rounds of competition; having more than one team per territory or adding more teams. These options are geared towards putting regional cricket in a better position overall by way of getting more competitive cricket, better crowd attendance, better player compensation and wider television coverage."

Gregory Shillingford (Stakeholder Relations)

"In our workshop we found some common problems in the WICB's quest for good relations with the various stakeholders in West Indies cricket: poor communications, poor understanding, poor commitment and poor planning.

"Our strategies were all designed to eliminate these problems and develop a positive approach to West Indies cricket and to everybody we deal with-the players, the sponsors, the fans, the umpires, the selectors, the coaches, the players, association, the media, the territorial boards, CARICOM, WICB staff and the ICC (International Cricket Committee).

"To achieve effective communications, one of the key things we will be doing at the WICB is appointing an information officer to disseminate information.

This person will have the responsibility for follow-ups to make sure our communication is effective and is achieving the objectives of West Indies cricket.

"We are also talking about developing an electronic communications network between the WICB and all of its stakeholders. We will be communicating by email, not only information and correspondence, but accounting and financial matters also.

"There is a project that has been recommended for the provision of computer equipment and establishment of a network to enhance communications between stakeholders in Caribbean cricket and the wider cricket world. "Also, the launching of the windiescricket.com web site, hosted by Sky Sports, will officially put West Indies cricket on the web. This will be a source of information and other electronic services."

Last week we presented a synopsis of remarks by the Cricket Development and Facilities, Equipment and Technology groups.