South Zone drops the cricket ball

For weeks I have been contemplating adding my voice to the elections of the TT Cricket Board (TT CB). Let me make it quite clear that I am a supporter of the current president, Azim Bassarath, and the Movement for Change. I have served at various levels of the South Zonal Council from 1987 to 2009.

When I left there were 32 clubs playing in four divisions. Today there are less than half those numbers, many of which cannot field 11 players regularly, far less a second team. The South Zone plays only limited overs cricket.

Cricket and the administration of the game in this zone are in a sorry state.

Both the members of this council and the TT CB have to accept responsibility for the decline of the standard of cricket in this zone. Instead of focusing and developing initiatives to rescue and improve all aspects of the sport in South, they spent valuable time massaging egos and jockeying for positions of power.

They literally dropped the ball which is plummeting into the gutter, dragging the South Zone along.

Being a witness to this tragedy prompted me to initiate action to bring back some sense of normalcy to the administration of cricket in the South Zone. I was determined to put together a group of individuals with like thinking to wrest control of the zone from those who have presided over its swift decline. This would have given us the leverage to force the TT CB to pay more attention and respect to the South Zone.

I spoke to many clubs who all expressed their disgust with the current situation. Surprisingly, only six committed – or so I thought – to this rescue mission.

That was never going to be enough to win the zonal elections.

The support of nine clubs was required.

The day before the elections and mere hours before the vote, the six clubs agreed that even though we did not have strength in numbers we would still vote against the status quo.

To my utter shock and disgust, when the final vote count was announced, all those who pledged allegiance to our cause had capitulated and voted for the incumbents. Duplicity in cricket.

There can be no respect for individuals who cannot stand by their convictions or who falsely state their position on issues. I have faced a tsunami of ridicule and sarcasm on social media just because I stood by my beliefs and principles.

I have always been a member of the Movement for Change and a supporter of the current administration of the TT CB. There is no duplicity in my stated position.

The board is not perfect.

There are many who have run the course and need to pass the baton. There has to be improvements in the way things are done, but when I look at the alternative I am confident that under the present leadership the Board can continue on its upward growth path.

While my two cents may not be worth much in this world of billions, it is worth saying.

You see, power is not about how high one can reach in an organisation, but how long one can stay grounded among the public one serves.

REYNOLD SEWDASS Movement for Change