President Anderson seeks to revive cricket in Trelawny

President of Trelawny Cricket Association Chester Anderson has crafted a novel way to revive cricket in the parish.

"I decided to appeal to two former players, Oral Rankine and Rupert Green, to come out of retirement and organise a senior team to participate in the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) two-day competition.

"It has been most successful. We reached the quarter-finals, where we were beaten by St Mary after getting first innings point. This is a turnaround from losing all our matches in 2022," Anderson related.

The president plans to use the senior team's success to help in a development programme he plans for primary school students.

"We intend to have a series of cricket camps before the primary school competition begins. That, it is hoped, will bring about a revival in participation in the game. Once that is achieved, we can take their interest to the high schools," Anderson reasoned.

There are seven high schools in the parish, with no cricket being played in any of them. The exorbitant cost of purchasing gear is one of the reasons for the lack of support for the sport.

Linvern Wright is the principal of William Knibb High. He pointed to the cost of cricket as a high school sport.

"The cheapest bat costs $25,000. You must purchase a set of gear for regular physical education classes and another for competition. Unlike football, where there is an attraction and spectators pay to watch the game, nothing near that is in cricket," Wright said.

Anderson is appealing to the JCA for more money to be injected into the development of cricket in the parishes.

"There needs to be a new set of thoughts at the head. When you look at the cost involved in preparing for cricket, then $192,000 allocated by the JCA towards development is paltry," opined Anderson.