Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 24, 2021 Sports
By Sean Devers
Kaieteur News – Some people’s mind-set is to disobey rules but this only happens when they realise that the penalties for their transgressions are not enforced.
I see many people walking in congested areas with no masks although it’s mandated that masks be worn in public places or fines imposed for not adhering to the Covid-19 regulations. But no action is taken in this regard while Police many times turn a ‘blind eye’ on those who flout the 10:30 hrs curfew.
One of my friends in England told me that Guyana is a Lawless Country and my response was ‘We have all the Laws like anywhere else but the problem is that most times they are not enforced.’
Generally, the Guyanese mentality is to try to get away with things if nobody is willing to impose punishment for their wrong-doings and this transcends into all aspects of life including cricket.
As I review the resumption of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) cricket over the weekend, I thought of what Chairman of GCA’s Competition Committee Shawn Massiah said on last Wednesday’s ‘Sean Devers Sports Watch’ on Kaieteur Radio about the Association’s plans to deal with the Covid-19 regulation and the guidelines set for scorers.
After two Sports disciplines were banned for breaching the Covid-19 regulations, it was pleasing to see that by and large, all measures to curb the spread of the Pandemic were adhered to in the six games in GT over the weekend.
Masks were worn, there were very few ‘fans’ in the stands and the GCA officials and the teams must be commended for adhering to these safety measures.
Most of the grounds were in ‘good’ condition taking into account the Covid-19 Virus, the rainy weather and that this was first time GCA cricket was being played in close to a year.
I was impressed with good condition of the Everest ground and especially the two grounds at Queen’s College. I was informed that the ‘big’ roller from Everest was used on the Police ground, while all the grounds had covers for the pitches.
But there are things that could be improved, including the general standard of the cricket and the ‘don’t care’attitude of some of the teams who are mandated to be accompanied by someone who can properly and correctly transcribe the scores in the scorebook, the poor quality of most of the pitches and the fact that most of the matches had only one scorer and one Umpire.
The pitches at most of the venues were low and slow with many balls keeping very low but this could be excused since there was little work on the pitches at most grounds due to absence of officially organised cricket since early last year. Pitches and the heavy outfields should improve as the season progress and the GCA will hope for favourable weather conditions.
The lack of two umpires at many venues could also be excused since it is understood that some Umpires are sceptical about their safety from the pandemic and have taken the position of better safe than sorry.
This can be understood, since players, Umpires, Officials and reporters have to be very careful operating in what can possible be unsafe conditions, especially since very few involved in the tournament have been tested for the Virus.
The two biggest problems with GCA in the last two decades, apart from the unavailability of grounds due to other activities, remain the generally poor standard of cricket, especially the batsmen, who continue to play impetuously and the scorers, who cause plenty of stress for reporters.
Let’s address the first problem first and look at the only two-day Division One game played over the weekend since this is the highest level of club cricket in the City and included West Indies and Guyana players.
Despite contrasting hundreds from Berbician and former West Indies U-19 batsman Kevlon Anderson and Quinton Sampson and a five-wicket haul from ex Berbice U-19 off-spinner Kelvin Leitch, five wickets in the game including four in the first innings from West Indies ODI pacer Ronsford Beaton, the overall standard of at the Police ground was appallingly low.
Beaton utilised a two-pace track to bowl out GNIC, (who turned up with only 11 players and no scorer) for 110 as nobody reached 30 and lacked the temperament to spend ‘time’ at the crease.
When Police batted, they slumped to 68-6 as the top order all threw away their wickets with injudicious shots before the 20-year-old Anderson, arguably the most accomplished young batsman in Guyana, built a well-crafted 106 and along with Sampson who targeted the small straight boundary in his pugnacious 106, added 177 for the seventh wicket as Police recovered to reach 304.
GNIC fell for 95 in their second innings on a track that ‘crept’ while the spinners bowled too fast and flat and failed to extract prodigious turn from a helpful track but were still successful due to the batsmen lack of patience and inability to play spin.
In the past, Georgetown’s cricket produced the bulk of the young National players but this is no longer the case as GCA’s cricket is now dominated by players outside of Demerara, especially from Berbice which has the most cricket and the best run Board which mandates teams travel with Managers.
In the recent past the overall standard of scoring, especially at the second division level, had gotten progressively worse with the scorers (most times being several different players) writing incorrect names, no full names, no number of balls faced, no fall of wickets recorded and many times incomplete scorebooks at the end of an innings or match. In the late 1980s and 90’s the Chronicle carried the full scorecard of all Division One games, even if the interest to do this still existed, the quality of the scorebooks would make that impossible to do.
In Berbice, (when Carl Moore was BCB Secretary) if both teams did not submit their scorebooks, their points would not be recorded and the GCA should implement such penalties. The Laws of cricket state that at least TWO scorers have to be present for a game to start. However, in the interest of games being played, the Umpires ignore this Law which encourages low standards.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 20, 2024
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