JCA launches talent hunt

Western Bureau:

With schoolboy and all forms of age-group cricket on hold for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) has launched an islandwide talent identification campaign targeting Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 boys and girls. Former national cricket coach and current chief selector Junior Bennett says the campaign which has gone well so far is a precursor to training camps as they look to keep the sport alive in the country.

"We are going into the parishes to see if we can identify some Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 talent. We want to see if we can unearth some talent because there has been no school cricket over the past two seasons," Bennett said.

"It has gone well so far. We have done Hanover, Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon and St Catherine. At the weekend, we did Trelawny and St James. When we are finished with the talent identification we can think about setting up camps. We would put them all in separate groups, the Under-15, 17 and all the girls. An Under-19 competition was also postponed this year," he added.

When asked about how difficult it has been throughout the campaign, Bennett told STAR Sports that it has not been difficult, just unusual because of the pandemic.

"It is not the norm in terms of how we go about doing things. For example, if a parish turns out 20 (talented players) we can't take all at the same time, we have to deal with them in groups of five. All the COVID-19 protocols have to be adhered to," Bennett said.