SDC /Wray & Nephew reigniting flame in cricket

The Social Development Commission (SDC) has reignited interest in cricket all around the island with the SDC/Wray & Nephew National T20 Community Cricket competition. The competition, which is in its 13th year of staging, gives thousands of people the opportunity to play and see high-level cricket.

And although the president of the St James Cricket Association, Cecil Fletcher, believes the cricket on display is sub-par to what is offered at the club level, he believes the entertainment it provides can do a lot of good for the game.

"What SDC has been doing is good for cricket and entertainment. In terms of bringing back life, the level of cricket that we administrate at the St James Cricket Association is somewhat different from what SDC plays. This is more entertainment than serious business. However, the players who represent the parishes are the ones involved in this level of cricket. So from a greater standpoint, they are the ones that put life into the cricket, not SDC," Fletcher said.

"This will expose other less talented players and everyone enjoy themselves. Yes, it brings unity, so it is a very good thing on behalf of the communities because if you realise the turnout at these matches is very excellent in comparison to the traditional cricket," he added.

"SDC has been blessed with good sponsorship over the years, it has some political injection as well so they have the funds. The traditional cricket matchup in terms of the amount of money. However, we welcome and always appreciate what they do. We are all one big family."

SDC recently hosted a featured day of cricket at the Dumfries Oval in St James, where over a 1,000 patrons from the community and the wider surrounding areas turned up to a fun-filled day of T20 cricket.

Fletcher also impressed with the level of exposure it gives to the youngsters who maybe would not be familiar with cricket.

"Yes, in the community everybody, including the youngsters, come out which is good as it expose them to the game. We also have youngsters playing in the games because it's mandatory that at least two schoolboys have to play on each team. It is also a crime-fighting tool because idle hands will do idle things, so when they are here watching cricket that is investing the time in the right direction," Fletcher said.