St Catherine hails return of JEP Cricket League

The organisers of cricket in St Catherine have hailed the return of the Jamaica Energy Partners (JEP) Cricket League after a two-year hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

President of the St Catherine Cricket Association, Milholland Barker, said the competition’s return was eagerly anticipated.

“It was eagerly anticipated by the teams and the communities (because) we were idle and without any kind of constructive recreation, but when it (the league) came back everyone was eager to be a part of it and so far so good,” he said.

The 18-team competition returns with a number of changes and Barker said the changes have been accepted by all the participants.

“Whatever we do we go according to the Jamaica Cricket Association and one of the things which was agreed on before the resumption is that our competition should be on a limited overs basis. We were already limited to 50 overs, but then it was suggested that we do Twenty20 instead which was well accepted by all teams,” he said.

Barker said this new format of the competition comes with a number of positives.

“The positives would be that the competition will be more exciting and we will have a winner and a loser in every game,” he said.

However, Barker said this might lead to some negative effects as well.

CONS

“On the negative side we could find that the younger players might become confused as to their approach to the game. We would have wanted them to be able to put their foot down and plan an innings as against being caught up in the whole excitement and the urgency (of the Twenty2o) and we would have given away technique and temperament for this excitement, but nonetheless we still will be having our youth competitions,” he said.

The competition comes with a rule that each team must consist of two high school players and therefore 36 youngsters are involved in the competition.

Chief executive officer of JEP, Wayne McKenzie, said helping to develop young talent is one of the reasons why they continue to give back to the sport for more than two decades.

He said he hopes that the discipline that is associated with the sport will continue to impact the younger players as they are supported by older players who act as mentors in the games and community.

“In addition to promoting that type of social environment we do hope that these citizens who are just normal citizens in their communities will go on to represent not just Jamaica but the West Indies as well, by way of this community league,” he said.

Local players such as Andre Russell, Nkrumah Bonner and Shakar Thomas who have represented Jamaica locally, regionally and internationally are some of players who have benefited from the JEP league.

“Our aim is not to create a spectacle but to produce a talent that goes and excels worldwide,” Barker said.

Barker said the league has been getting a great deal of support from fans so far and they hope to improve these numbers as they get close to the semi-finals and final.

“Cricket is not as it used to be, but its usefulness is still here,” McKenzie said.