Decision review

While there is still some doubt surrounding the staging of this year’s domestic cricket season, officials are now hopeful to get the ball rolling.

This reversal comes after the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) met with Minister of Sports Dwight Sutherland and other ministry officials over the weekend. This meeting was a direct response to the BCA’s announcement on Friday that they had abandoned plans for the season out of an abundance of caution because of health and safety concerns connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, cricket’s local governing body stated that the continued detection of COVID-19 cases in Barbados on a daily basis; the spike in new COVID-19 cases which occurred at the beginning of July, peaking on July 11, which has not yet been brought under control; and the detection of the highly infectious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus in the island; coupled with the current government directive which prohibits the presence of spectators at sporting events, were among the reasons for the cancellation.

Today BCA board member Gregory Nicholls told Barbados TODAY that the major issue was how his organisation would monitor compliance at the clubs and the grounds across the island on Saturdays and Sundays. However, stating that Saturday’s talks were positive, Nicholls added that coming out of the discussions was Sutherland’s pledge of Government’s assistance.

“What the minister did was to hear our concerns and he expressed his willingness, and the Government’s willingness to assist the BCA. For the Government, playing cricket, the recreational part of sport is very important for people to have some kind of valve to let off steam and to keep their heads on during the course of the busy week. A recreational element is very important to keeping society moving and so the ministry has pledged its support to do a number of things,” he said.

Among the areas Government volunteered its assistance was to seek clarification on the BCA’s behalf with the Ministry of Health and the Covid-19 monitoring unit – so that even if it has to be some adjustments to make the protocols more cricket specific, or sports that are non-contact sports that don’t pose a lot of threats to public health, this would be explored. Discussions were also had about what facilities can be put in place to ensure that all of the clubs operate in an environment where there is someone actually monitoring entry into the clubs and minimising contact between the general public and the players on both sides.

“The discussions were very positive and . . . it is likely there will be a season. But we didn’t gladly and willingly cancel the season. We cancelled the season on the basis that we felt that we were not able to ensure compliance with the existing protocols. So once we can refine those protocols and once the Government is willing to put the resources in place to ensure we can effectively manage it, and the clubs and schools that are under the superintendence of Government and the National Sports Council, we can put things in place to ensure that facilities are not compromised, and this is what the Ministry of Sport has said it would do, it is very likely to be a season,” Nicholls added.

No proposed start date was given for the season but Nicholls believed that it would be sometime in September and would be a reduced limited overs format, in accordance to the previous plan.

“The BCA will still have to make sure what the season would look like, how it would be structured, we also need to give the clubs and the schools enough time to register or make a decision about registration and then we have to put out fixtures and so forth. So yes it would be a shortened season like last year, if we do have one, and I am hoping that we do have one and we can get over the hurdle that were posed by the actual protocols,” Nicholls stated.

The BCA came in for stinging criticism last week after the decision was made initially to cancel the 2021 domestic season.

While cricket coaches Kirk Wilkinson (Malvern Club), Ryan Nurse (BWU Guardiola) and Donovan Lovell (Ellerslie Intermediate) expressed their disappointment with the BCA’s decision, president of the Wildey Sports Club and former YMPC captain, Mark Estwick, was more strident. He said he was astonished and appalled by the decision. He described the BCA’s move as “quite lame and lacking in substance.”

“Where in the most recent Covid-19 updated protocols points to a tightening in restrictions on sporting activities? There is none! What has changed? Nothing! In fact, cases of Covid-19 have declined from the peak in May/June. The current directive allows for the gathering of 100 persons – you do not need 100 persons to stage a cricket match. Statistics can be used by the user to fit any purpose and the BCA is conveniently using statistics relative to Covid-19 to fit this very bad decision,” Estwick said in a statement.

In what some construed as a veiled threat, Estwick noted: “It is now time for the clubs to come together and let our voices be heard in unison to repel this unfortunate decision by a board out of touch. We feel at this juncture it is best to play cricket under the auspices of the BCA – but there are alternatives,” Estwick said.