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T20 cricket in the Caribbean is intrinsically linked with Jamaica. It is the biggest cricket-playing island in the region and its most famous sons have been promoting June's T20 World Cup: Chris Gayle, the format's leading run-scorer, and Usain Bolt, the legendary sprinter, are ICC ambassadors; Sean Paul features in the tournament's official anthem.

And yet, in a 20-team, 55-match World Cup staged across nine venues, Sabina Park in Kingston will not host a single game. The reason? Jamaica's government did not submit a bid. The CPL has not staged fixtures in Jamaica since 2019, and this year it will no longer feature a Jamaican team after the Jamaica Tallawahs' owners relocated their franchise to Antigua and Barbuda.

For Rovman Powell, West Indies' T20 captain, the situation is "disappointing". After a series win over England in December, he described Jamaica as "a proud cricketing nation".

"I want to play in front of my home crowd," he said, "but for the last few years, I haven't. The West Indies cricket board [CWI] and the Jamaican government really have to sit down and have a conversation about that."

It is a common refrain: the centre-right Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government has been widely criticised for what its critics say is a failure to engage with cricket. Olivia Grange, the minister for culture, gender, entertainment and sport, fronted the decision not to bid to become a World Cup host venue and said that she was "obliged to look beyond immediate gratification" and could not defend the cost of staging games.

Wavell Hinds, who scored ten international hundreds for West Indies, was appointed shadow minister for labour and sports earlier this year, alongside his roles as president and chief executive of the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA). "There is a disconnect between the government and the reality of what sports and cricket can bring to the Jamaican people," he says.

"It is unfortunate, and certainly a missed opportunity: failing to bid for a T20 World Cup game and now seeing [how good] the ticket sales have been so far, without a ball being bowled… it's quite extraordinary how the government sees cricket within the sporting industry. They see sports as a whole, but not the impact it can have on the GDP of the country."

Many smaller Caribbean islands have successfully used cricket as a means to promote tourism but Jamaica had four million visitors last year in any case. "I've got to do a better job in making sure the government understands the benefits of what CPL can bring them," says Pete Russell, the league's chief executive, who hopes that Tallawahs will relaunch under new ownership after this season.

Kris Persaud, a Guyanese businessman, has shifted the franchise to Antigua and Barbuda after Tallawahs went four consecutive seasons without a home game. "It just became uneconomical for him to remain there," Russell says. "Jamaica's such a powerhouse of West Indies cricket, but for him it just wasn't tenable. He had a better offer, to be honest, from another government."

For Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies batter who recently left CWI after six years as director of cricket, the problem lies not with the government, but the Jamaican Cricket Association (JCA). "I'm not a lover of politicians, but I don't think it's really the government's fault," he says. "If you're going to look for the government to invest millions of dollars, then make the case as the local cricket board.

"Especially in an island like Jamaica, with limited resources and third-world issues - health, education, that kind of stuff - you have to admit you are responsible for making the case… you go and convince the government that it is in their interest to divert money from a lot of other areas into hosting international cricket games. The local association, I would go as far as to say not only didn't do it, they're incapable of doing it, which is a sad indictment."

The JCA has just undergone its first change in leadership for ten years - Dr Donovan Bennett, the long-serving vice-president, has replaced Wilford "Billy" Heaven as president - but Adams is not convinced that anything will change. "With this group of tadpoles in the bucket, put anyone you want in charge and would it make a difference? I don't think so," he says.

Sabina Park has hosted international cricket semi-regularly in recent years but rarely for major series: England, the most lucrative touring team for Caribbean islands, have not played there since 2009. For the Jamaicans involved in the West Indies set-up, it is a major frustration. Brandon King, the top-order batter, has played 84 internationals but only once on home soil.

"It's hard to believe, but it's true," King says. "Growing up, I always wanted to play for the West Indies but part of that was also playing in front of my family and friends. Sabina Park is still one of my favourite grounds in the world because of what it means to me: I grew up there. I don't feel I have missed out necessarily, because we just haven't played a lot of international cricket here."

Jamaica has a rich cricketing legacy, having produced West Indies players from George Headley, Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh through to Chris Gayle, Stafanie Taylor and Andre Russell. But the island's recent dominance of track and field events means that athletics is the principal sport; and football remains incredibly popular 26 years on from the Reggae Boyz' only World Cup finals appearance.

"Jamaica's sporting culture is about winning," says Jerome Foster, a reporter at Television Jamaica. "Track and field was really put on a pedestal in that glorious timeframe from 2008 to 2016, with the success of both Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. That really drove sponsorship and financial backing. Right now, there is no doubt that track and field is our No. 1 sport."

Foster believes that Jamaican cricket is in "a dire state" and says that engagement from fans "is at an all-time low". He is particularly worried by the decline in cricket in schools - both primary and secondary - since the Covid-19 pandemic, primarily due to a lack of funding. It is a concern shared by both Adams and Hinds.

"Normally, we have at least 80 to 90 high schools playing cricket," Hinds says. "We only have 28 now. There's no primary-school cricket and there's no prep-school cricket. We need to return to the days of having participation at all those levels." Adams says he is "alarmed" by the drop-off: "We don't have a strong club structure so we rely on the school system to identify talent. If we lose that, it really makes a big dent."

There is a widely shared fear that the absence of both World Cup and CPL fixtures will compound cricket's decline in Jamaica. While there is still a healthy talent production line, underlined by Powell's ascent to the West Indies captaincy and Andre Russell's success at the IPL, neither player has much opportunity to inspire on home soil.

"You want kids to see, in front of them, that cricket is an avenue," Adams says. "Yes, we have Andre Russell earning good money in the IPL but the kids here don't get a chance to see him play live. He's always overseas. That ties into the issue of schools, where a lot of teachers have love and passion for the game but they can't afford the kit, or a coach to drive the cricket programme, so the kids don't have the chance to play themselves."

Johnny Grave, CWI's chief executive, suggests that Jamaica's decline as a cricketing force has been overplayed, pointing to their recent success in the Women's T20 Blaze and Super50 Cup. He also cites the fact that Sabina Park will host three men's T20Is against South Africa this week as evidence of CWI's desire to stage international cricket in the country.

Source: MATT ROLLER - ESPN Cricinfo

Admin, I apologize for the long read but it’s warranted at this time, when many fans are claiming that we could be witnessing the last Jamaican to play Test cricket for West Indies, although I am not convinced but here are some possible reasons.

In reply to Slipfeeler

I would like to work in front my family and friends, but I can’t! Such is life!

In reply to StumpCam

Well, I guess cricket is not seen as an exciting game to young Jamaicans, when compared with soccer, track & field, or even basketball. Cricket was started by affluent, British Epicureans, who needed some form of activity, and had time to play a 5-day sport, while stopping for lunch and tea

In reply to Slipfeeler

Good read - will respond later.

In reply to Slipfeeler

It is good article..lengthwise too quite valuable in exploring a vexed Situation.
There are many reasons for current decline...mention Track and Field and one gets a good idea of
a critical reason...in 1952 Jamaica won the 4x400m relay Gold in Helsinki OIympics...
yet while all and sundry can point to T&F as the ACE in the pack of Jamaica's Sports,the
iconic event, the 4x400 that put Jamaica's name on the World scene...does not have
a team for Paris 2024.
Why ??
As a country , we tend to lose sight of what is really important and so become less protective of
our history,culture and heritage. We tend to live in the 'now' and those in charge are not to good
at maintaining standards or make the sacrifice to improve .
And just because we are not represented in the 4x400 in Paris, I am not too keen and have not watched
one moment of he Olympics so far.
As regards to cricket...some have pointed rightly to the dearth of schools playing the game.
When Cricket was King throughout the Region and in Jamaica,it was played all over the Island, from hamlets to Towns
at all age levels competively or r recreationally. Kingston Race Course, now Heroes Park was a behive every weekend
and especially on Sundays, with many hundreds playing on various grounds.Same too at Maxfield Park where a German gifted
school was constructed on one of the most wonderful cricket grounds which was the home ground of the KSAC cricket team
which played in one or two competitions and from which Henry Sewell a fastbowler who bowled Hanif Mohammed got his start.
That park was a haven for all from the West who wanted to play sports...
Heroes Park was not only home to Cycling but within the track was a huge cricket ground which was the Venue for Elementary school
competition during the 50s, the Matcham Cup named for Reggie Matcham a devout cricket lover. Youngsters in the City (I being from Rousseau School)
looked forward to playing there even though we were always battered by Greenwich School, the best elementary School team the Entire Island,
and which won the All Island title for the Unilever shield all the time.
Today Elementary School cricket is non existent. High School cricket as stated is highly degraded when there are now far more Schools of that type
but with far less schools playeing.
That was the foundation and once that goes, the game is gonna fall to the floor. Thanks to SDC, cricket is not lost on that level but it is not as robuts
as it should be.
Then there are the Administrators and others . Organization of the game, cricket takes time,more resources and sacrifice.
The government can do more to address the foundation of the game where the love is nurtured much as football and Track has done.
There are no immediate rewards to be had so volunteers and dedicated teachers are no longer involved on an large scale to nurture and encourage
the playing of cricket.
This leaves the game only at the declining Club levels ,national and International levels where attention is being focussed.
Cricket needs to return to the roots and develop and attract youngsters, both boys and girls and give them venues and coaches along with
competition.
Folks get too caught up with non hosting of International cricket when the focus should be on the building the game,maintain love and interest.
Hosting is ok, but that is the pot at the end of the rainbow; very temporary.
Why are girls not playing cricket in the schools at all levels. ? Females the world over are as passionate in support of Sports as
spectators and participants. Jamaica needs to tap into that.

The JCA should begin by organizing and spearheading the game with help from the government, on A County Basis as a start.
Cornwall,Middlesex and Surrey Counties should have lower level structure and work from there. The Trelawny Stadium
should be used as an Academy for Cornwall County and be the HQ for that County.
And competitions at all levels should embrace the Counties Model leading to the National Level. Get the Parishes involved
in building their individual programmes.

It will take resources but Sponsorhips and Private Sector can be sold on something good.
For Jamaica, the end result should be to prepare for Cricket in the Olympics. Perhaps this will be the motivator ..having A Real
National Cause and there will always be 20/20 Franchises for those who excel.
Cricket needs rebuilding in the CAUSE of Jamaica and not necessarilty WI CAUSE at this time and that, not hosting World Cups for the ICC should be the priority.

In reply to hubert

Thanks for valuable contribution Hubert, there are so many factors affecting the consistent development of cricket as a sport in Jamaica. Notwithstanding, the lack of management and promotion of the sport in Jamaica by both JCA and CWI, including the lack of cricket matches at both Sabina Park and the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium aka Usain Bolt Stadium or even at Jarrett Park, Montego Bay, where we fell in love with the sport of cricket from we were in primary school due its location across the street from our school. Children growing up in Jamaica no longer get consistent exposure to the game of cricket or get to watch their favourite player in action. For example, I always remember a guy name Albert Padmore, might not have been one of our great ones but I liked the way that he used to run up to the wicket when he bowls, youths in Jamaica no longer get that type of exposure to the game. They spend time playing video games or watching basketball or soccer.

Let’s get back to grassroots cricket when we use to spend our entire lunch and break time playing, “bowl fi bat” and other such cricketing activities. Develop youth cricket in Jamaica and I guarantee in the next few years, we will again dominate cricket in the Caribbean (Cheek and Tongue, awaiting the reactions)

In reply to Slipfeeler

In reply to openning

Yes same Player, I agree that he was a good player but maybe born in the wrong era, as per article below:

“Albert Padmore was unfortunate to be a good offspinner in an era when pace was the order of the day in the Caribbean. With an action modeled on Lance Gibbs, he promised much, but he had to wait until 1975-76 to make his Test debut, taking 1 for 134 from 74 overs. He toured England in 1976, grabbing 59 wickets at 23.38 as the country sweltered in a heatwave, but he got only one outing in the Tests, and even then bowled only three overs at Manchester. Frustrated, he joined Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket in 1977.”

In reply to Slipfeeler

Excellent opening post and thread - thanks.

It is sad to see the drop in interest in cricket in Jamaica. The "Tamar Lambert" captaincy era in the 2000s was a very good period for Jamaica - but the drop off was so stark.

Did the drop off in local cricket, and by extension, the interest in WI cricket (by Jamaicans) coincide with the big names turning from local cricket to 20-over leagues across the world?

Additionally, did those who sought 20-over franchise cricket do anything to support cricket back home:
Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Brandon King, Fabien Allen, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas, Rovman Powell, Sheldon Cottrell

Not saying that those cricketers are obligated to "give back" but just questioning if "giving back" was needed?

In reply to Slipfeeler

That would be great start..how many kids,pre teens especially know about that lovely part of cricket.
I guess not many...same as those living not ever experiencing Train rides on the 2nd oldest
Railway System( next to USA) in the the Americas including Canada and South and Central America.

Boy we know how to hit reverse for sure as a people and I aint talking motor vehicles

Like almost all; things...it starts with Love. Love of the game, fun with it then passion follows.
Those elements are missing in the game of cricket for the preteens where the foundation
should be laid.
Back to basics and INCLUDE the Girls, Big time.
I am not hopeful as the WILL does not seem to there so they will not find a way.

Question Hubert.

Was cricket always more popular than football in Jamaica? Or the other way around?

In reply to imusic

In the world cup qualifiers for 1998, Football interest was higher. Prior to that campaign it was Cricket.

Then after 1998 it was neck and neck - but after the 20-teens football is ahead.

In reply to Prako

Thank you Prako

In reply to imusic

Cricket was almost as popular as Football when we were growing up, sometimes the same guy was the captain of both the football and cricket teams. Legendary Steve Bucknor was a high school football goalkeeper but also an around cricketer, who became both FIFA Football Referee and ICC Cricket Umpire, many other such persons with almost similar accolades. Many guys were good enough to represent Jamaica in both cricket and football. Unfortunately, over the years, soccer became more popular among the youths than cricket. Not playing Blackwood in Sabina Park in front of the youths and in his home country might have also turned off many aspiring youths, we will never know.
In response to Prako, I am not certain about the significant contributions of the IPL stars in help to develop cricket in Jamaica but it’s worth a study.

However, all is not lost, Jamaicans love winners, so I am certain that similar to Track and Field, its only time before Jamaica introduces the next Lara or Viv or Michael Holding to the world. St. Mary, St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, Kingston and other parishes are currently on the job, they need some motivation in the form of periodic cricket festival-type matches at various locations all over Jamaica.

Youths have to be encouraged that they can actually earn a living playing cricket and JCA has to become more proactive, there are no reasons why Jamaica cannot have its own touring squad. Providing valuable experience and exposure to young cricketers playing in North America during the summer and creating some form of revenue to JCA, to assist in the further development of young players. Even playing suitable cricket teams in Australia, India, England, etc.

In reply to Prako

where does track and field fit?

In reply to Slipfeeler

I once saw Renford Pinnock score a century at the Mecca, facing Barbados' best of Wes, Charlie and Prof, that century I have written about various times.
He had all the strokes, but he also had some gimmicks, he was a fighter.
He took some blows and gave some back.
Viv after playing his last match in the region for a UWI President X1 vs South Africa said," Our bats seem to be a group of survivors.
Ryan Hinds and Deo were part of the survivors.

Cricket does not offer the economic opportunities as football and or track and field.

In reply to Slipfeeler

As a child of the 80s I don’t think there was any point where cricket was more or close to as popular as football in Jamaica. Not even close. And cricket continues to decline in popularity.

I pointed out long ago that having cricket on subscriber TV channels would not grow the audience.

In reply to camos

Are there blackouts in other countries?
As bad as the West Indies is, fans came to see the test matches in Australia and England.

The product is bad and without stars.

In reply to openning

In reply to camos

Nothing will grow the audience in Jamaica now. Cricket is like tdk cassette tapes. Obsolete in Jamaica. There are no star role models and they don’t see riches. Kids can want to be the next Bolt or Blake or Asafa. They can want to be like the ballers with the professional contracts. (Leon Bailey, Sterling). Or the new youngsters Duran whisper and Kaheim Dixon. Play cricket for what? Who in Jamaica coming to watch a West Indies team full of bajans ?

In reply to rudebway

What if it was full of Guyanese or Tits or islanders?

Would they come?

In reply to rudebway

One of my cricketing memories was watching both Chanderpaul and Sarwan batting for almost an entire day in the US Virgin Islands.
Rudeboy it all depends on which part of Jamaica you grew up, in more rural areas, cricket was actually more popular than football. However, if you resided in a town or city that has one of Jamaica’s prominent high school football teams, then undoubtedly football would be more popular.

If the West Indies team had some of the best players in the world, like back in our glory days, then there would be less emphasis on the origin of the player. For example, Lara, Viv or Greenidge might be as equally popular in Jamaica, as in their own islands.

In reply to rudebway

lol

In reply to Slipfeeler

I grew up in Manchester so I am a country boy. Knox college. The big big school. Funny you mentioned him. Gordon greenidge was my favorite batsman as a kid. The double century on the last day against England when we chased 340 was unforgettable. Also remember us chasing 176 against India in the final session . Remember us being one run for 3 wickets and Gomes and Lloyd made centuries. The good old days

In reply to imusic

Why u lol? Am I wrong?

In reply to rudebway

You not wrong at all. I was laughing at this comment

In reply to imusic

Cricket was way more popular and played among every age group from elementary schools to the top
and played all over the country.
Football was played mainly in the two big cities,Kingston and MoBay and among High schools of which
there were not many in the rural parts.
I can't recall ever seeing football in elementary schools in the rural parishes growing up in the 50s.
But those same schools as well as rural villages, hamlets,towns all had cricket teams and played
competitively. also the parishes had their own cricket competition called Nethersole Cup with the winner
engaging the Senior Cup champions of Metro Kingston ,St Andrew and St.Catherine for what was
the Ewing Shield.
Every parish had its own internal villages' club competition.
As an example my own Parish St. Mary had as many as 10 clubs (district teams) playing in Western St. Mary for The Roach Cup while in East
which had the better players such as Lester King,Silbert Robinson ,had as many Club playing for the Girling Cup.
These clubs provided the players for the St.Mary Parish team but internally the winner of the East would play the West for the Pringle Cup

St.Mary was the top Parish for years with Westmoreland and Clarendon their main nemesis.
On top of that Jamaica had a robust Sugar Estate Cricket Competition as there were at one time 16 or more Sugar Estates involved.
That was also a high level of cricket and when All Guyana Sugar visited Jamaica with Roy Fredericks or Caroni at one time with a Leo John from T&T ,the
level of cricket was high.
There were very few boys growing up who did not engage in cricket.
Its a long story and cricket's decline in Jamaica did not begin now, it started decades ago as other interests and sports and
dedicated folks paid more attention to them and expanded their reaches to the youth.
Cricket being far more costly always had that factor against it too. You need a bat and ball to play while football needed a ball
and a little space to get started.

There was no comparative with regards to football which was third in line behind Track and field
as there were more participants with Boys Championships and later Girls champs.
But far more people attended Football and Track and Field events.
But total participants ...Cricket was the clear winner by a country mile.
One sad thing to its demise too is that cricket lost some its best venues.
The cricket field owned by Sir Harold Mitchell in West St. Mary at Prospect near Ocho Rios was made to the best
English standards as a Billiard table. The best field I ever played on.
It hosted visiting private teams including the Duke of Norfolk in 1957.
I understand that it has give way to housing !!!!!!
Such is the fate too of the other lovely ground in the Eastern part of the Parish,and which was owned
by Girling or Pringle. It is has long been part of an orange/banana farm.
Similar stories can be told in every Parish. Thankfully two nice grounds remain in Portland Parish, Lynch Park in Buff Bay
and Carder park in capital Port Antonio. Not so in St. Ann..the well appointed Sugar Estate ground outside the capital
has long ceased.
And the sdad thing is that although there are in some case a replacement ground,such is so inferior that it boggles the mind.
Yes cricket decline in the Yard has many many sides to it. Sadly

Sorry to be so long but I know you, Music man understand even if you do not know places referenced.

In reply to hubert

Well stated. I grew up in the country and I distinctly remember the first day I saw a football ball. It was years after I had been playing cricket. I moved to Kingston and Matcham Cup cricket amongst the Kingston primary and all-age schools was more popular than its football equivalent (whatever the name of that Cup was). Sunlight Cup (cricket) was just about as prestigious as the Manning Cup/DaCosta Cup (football) and that is saying a lot given the traditional schools had been playing inter-schools football way before cricket.

Transistor radios were must-haves as no one dared missing ball-by-ball cricket coverage. I think it was late 70's that the table began to turn fully to football being king in Jamaica. More football (beyond Star Soccer) was now being televised and the love for Brazil (to a significantly lesser extent France) pulled youths closer to football. Another factor that buoyed football into the consciousness of Jamaican youths was the move by StETHS, Clarendon and Ruseas in the rural areas and Camperdown and XLCR in the city to open their traditional doors to so-called ghetto-youths on football scholarships. The practice of "Scholarships" had been mastered by Vere Technical and to a lesser extent KC. Minor League in Kingston provided the material for these scholarships with places like Duhaney Park (the bulk of the Clarendon College '77 star team), Pembroke Hall and Harbour View serving as recruiting hot beds.

Track, like football, was the preserve of traditional schools such as St.Georges, KC, Calabar, Munro, Wolmers, Cornwall, Excelcior and JC. They took all the track and football titles. With regards to track, in 1976 Calabar with a heavy investment in "scholarships" toppled KC ending their 14-year reign and track suddenly caught fire amongst the youths. The key here, like football is that ghetto-youths now had access to high schools in large numbers. So track had 1976 and football had the expansion of recruiting by other schools to rival the traditional schools. Cricket, well........crickets!

BTW I am predicting that based on the level of grassroots cricket currently developing in the parish of St. Mary, that parish will very likely develop the next great West Indies batsman and bowler.
So, Kirk McKenzie might not be the last Jamaican to play for West Indies.

STETHS develops great high school players but somehow many have not matured into dominant national players, worthy of West Indies selection.

In reply to Slipfeeler

In reply to doosra

In reply to hubert

Thank you so much Hubert. Truly appreciate the detailed information both yourself and Prako provided.

In T&T…..football was always king. Cricket was very popular in Central and South Trinidad in particular. But overall, it was football.

Organized Football is also more economical to play for the common person. Really just needed a pair of tugs. In organized Cricket you needed bat and pads which were expensive.

Not sure how much cricket is played at the primary school level in T&T today.

I suspect each generation is influenced by national success in the sport.

Back in the day, West Indies was THE brand name for international sporting representation in the region. We also got Star Soccer in Trinidad but those players seemed like a fairy tale. There was no avenue for local players to be in those leagues at the time.

But it was possible for local cricketers to make it to the West Indies team.

That’s why it was such a big deal when Dwight Yorke, at 17 years old, signed a contract with Aston Villa in the then English First Division. Simultaneously, Russell Latapy (my favourite footballer ever) and Leonson Lewis also signed for Portuguese clubs.

We were blessed then with some amazing players and youths saw the possibility that those 3 provided. Those were heady times for T&T football coinciding with our World Cup appearance in 2006. Jamaica making it to the World Cup in 1998 also was a factor at that time.

In cricket, the success of players like Bravo, Pollard, Narine etc saw an explosion of interest and talent in the sport, especially with the advent of the newest & abbreviated form of the game.

At the end of the day, success breeds interest and participation.

But success doesn’t just come. It starts at the grassroots: Primary school, Secondary Schools, Academies, etc. and not just for so called “elite schools”.

While Brian Lara, Ato Boldon, and Shaka Hislop did attend “elite schools”, none of Yorke, Latapy, Lewis, etc did.

So it’s imperative to include the so called “ghetto youth” because that is where some of our brightest talents are found

Sadly, in T&T…..too many of those bright talents are now more into being “gun man”……

Lyrics from the great David Rudder’s “Madman Rant”

In reply to camos

No doubt about that fact but somehow they have not matured into world-class players, which is partly the reason why fans around the Caribbean are saying that Kirk McKenzie could probably be the last Jamaican to play Test cricket for West Indies.

In reply to Slipfeeler

Whatever cricket being played in JA is not for preparing Test cricketers.
I have read of so many 2-day games ending before time with all four innings
concluded.
T20 is the mode. Not even 50/50

In reply to hubert

Sounds like that might be a coaching problem and the lack of developing competitive players with abilities to play long innings.

In reply to hubert

Oh, thank you so much Maas Hubie, that's the true story right there. That is all I will say. As someone born in the early 50s I did not know anything about football until I went to live with relatives who lived and worked on a sugar estate (Monymusk). Thank you sir, thank you.

When I was a boy "dem gone play ball" meant cricket, now it means them playing football!

In reply to camos

And "ball grung" meant the cricket field.

In reply to CWWeekes

Yes! dung a ball grung was the cricket field.

In reply to CWWeekes

Monymusk ....oh oh. That Estate had some serious teams. My club in Decoy St. Mary near Guy's Hill used to challenge teams
all over and travelled to other parishes to play friendlies...they challenged Monymusk and ran into a a batsman named
Stephen Hinds. He murdered them scoring a ton in no time and the sugar men turned around and dismissed Decoy twice
before sundown..they also had a left arm spinner Baker who was deadly back in the day and when I played against him.
Decoy also encountered Gilchrist when they challenged Seaforth team in St. Thomas in mid50s. I did not make that Truck trip but was told my eldest
who played that the team's solid opener named 'Country'Anderson was bowled before his bat came down..the middle stump taking
off like an airplane to great delight by the home spectators and shock from the visitors.
It was shortly after than ,Gillie was discovered by Senior Cup club Wembley who went on a curry goat trip too,and they took him
to Kingston to play Senior Cup at the urging of National Coach George Headley. My Club did not know its limitations although they
once dismissed a visiting team from Shortwood CC from Kingston for 7 and two batters made tons in return.

Stephen Hinds who once got called to Trials for the Jamaica team has a unique record in Cricket.
In a Sugar Estate final he opened and made 70 something and got out...and his partner was still to face a ball.
Wisden requested the Scorebook when Leighton Duncan who founded Cavalier FC and who was a sports
coordinator for Sugar Estate Competition related to me the event but the scorebook was one of
many items destroyed when a hurricane or severe winds destroyed most of the pavilion.
Hinds migrated when he was still a young man.Met a relative of his at Marine park in Brooklyn some
years ago at a cricket match and we discussed the feat.

Losing records seem to occur in Jamaica more than most places..Same thing happened with some Kingston College records by Hurricane Charlie in early 50s.
I went to check on stuff there.including my father's records as he was one of the Foundation boys that started
with the school in 1925. But the Head, I think it was Forest, gave me the bad news.This was in the 70s while
doing some research. But there were records that he attended and even scored against JC in a Manning Cup game

Loss of records is the bane of Jamaica. When it comes to cricket it is even worse. The JIS
used to attend and film matches in the 50s, OZ tour of 1955, Pakistan of 1958 and snippets would be shown
throughout villages along with BBC news back in the day to us country bumpkins...BUT like the JBC TV
which did such much later, those films or Tapes were lost or destroyed or taped over.
That is why there are no records of the mighty deeds of the Ws ,Sobers ,Hunte ,Gilchrist ,Valentine or Collie Smith
to show to younger and future generations. And we know who the losers are.
The most wonderful thing about the USA is preservation of their history..
Sorry I went off track. But there are some sore points that come to mind as I get older

In reply to hubert

No Sir, you did not go off track. Just hanging on to every word you utter.
Heard about the Stephen Hinds "record". The story goes that he was into his 70s before his opening partner had faced a ball. His partner's name was Thompson. Don't remember his first name, believe it was Fred. Don't know Stephen Hinds but he was spoken about a lot in cricket talk. He was of my dad's generation. The spinner you mentioned is George Baker. In estate inter department competition he had a partner and both together were termed Lock and Laker. That's how I first heard of Tony Lock and Jim Laker.

I remembered just before starting UWI, I worked for the Government of Jamaica for a year. They have an annual Day of Cricket, so all the much older Civil servants place themselves at the top of the batting line up, claiming that they were experienced batsmen but were bowled out cheaply, while us the youngsters, batting as tailenders top scored to bolster the innings. This is just a demonstration of the love for cricket back in the days, in Jamaica, not sure if people are still organizing cricket matches, outside of formal cricket organizations.
We have not even see youths playing “Baby cricket”, that is, teams playing against each other, using a tennis ball.