Adrian Frater | Give us back our Tallawahs

While Andre Russell, the captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs, might have breached protocol when he spoke out publicly about his unhappiness with the decision by the team's owners to play three of the team's five home games in Florida, I am fully supportive of the sentiments he expressed.

Although it could be argued that the owners have a valid argument in stating that they would like to promote the game in the United States of America, since that is where they live and it is their money that is being spent, I have a difficulty accepting this 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' philosophy.

My greatest concern is not about the Tallawahs not feeling comfortable in Florida because of the absence of the type of love they have grown accustomed to at Sabina Park. I am more concerned about losing one of our primary sources of motivating today's generation of youngsters to take up the game.

In my opinion, we are not playing enough quality cricket in Jamaica at this time to inspire our youngsters to develop a genuine interest in the game. In fact, when the Tallawahs came to the fore with the advent of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2013, it was like the launch of a rescue mission because it served to ignite interest in the game locally.

I believe that while taking the Tallawahs to Florida might help to push cricket in the US, it could have the reverse effect here in Jamaica because, unlike in my childhood days when we were able to watch top-flight cricket on free-to-air television, albeit in black and white in the early years, except for the youngsters who are exposed to cable, there is very little cricket to see on television these days.

I can still remember the first time I saw cricket on television. I was probably about 10 or 11 years old. The father of one of my friends allowed me and some other boys to sit on his verandah and watch an Under-19 game between Jamaica and Guyana. After watching Colin Croft bowling pretty fast with his weird action, I felt an instant urge to try to bowl as fast as he was.

NEVER LOST INTEREST

While my personal cricketing exploits revolved mostly around a few school and community matches, that early exposure to cricket on television caused me to develop a real passion for the game. In fact, even when I fell in love with football as I got older, I never lost interest in cricket, and even today, I still spend hours watching old videos of Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Viv Richards and my childhood idol, Lawrence Rowe.

With cricket now a rarity on free-to-air television, there is a far greater incentive to have the Tallawahs playing here in Jamaica to provide inspiration to our aspiring cricketers. It is just a pity that we don't have enough quality venues across the island to bring the game to more youngsters.

When the CPL started in 2013, there was no question that it rescued what was a dying sport in Jamaica. In the previous years, I can remember international games at Sabina Park attracting just the proverbial 'one man and his dog' as spectators. In addition, club cricket in places like St James had become such a colossal joke that only the so-called 'curry goat' matches were attracting spectators.

When the Tallawahs came to the fore, instead of the half-empty stands that were becoming the norm at Sabina Park, we suddenly had fans jam-packing the iconic venue to watch the exploits of the likes of Christopher Gayle, Russell, Rovman Powell, Krishmar Santokie, Sheldon Cottrell and the many other local stars. There was no question that our cricket had got a new lease on life.

In my opinion, taking the Tallawahs' home games to the United States might result in a reversal of what we have been seeing in terms of interest since 2013. I would suggest that the owners of the Tallawahs seek to create another franchise in the United States and give the Tallawahs back to Jamaica full-time. That, to me, would be the ultimate win-win situation.