The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN an effort to increase the local profile of the sport and attract a new generation of enthusiasts to the sport, the Bahamas Cricket Association will host a new initiative on its calendar.

The BCA is scheduled to host the Cricket Festival March 26-28 at Haynes Oval and Windsor Park under the theme, “Let’s Grow The Sport.”

Eight teams will compete in the tournament played in a six-a-side format.

Participating teams include - Pool A: Lions, St Agnes, Police and Islanders. Pool B comprises Pacesetters, Westerns, St George’s and Fort Charlotte.

The tournament begins Saturday with play at both locations. Windsor Park will host Pool A while Haynes Oval will host Pool B.

KFC will serve as the title sponsor. “KFC Nassau is delighted to be a sponsor of the BCA’s 2016 ‘Nassau Sixes’ Cricket Tournament. The KFC brand has supported the sport of cricket for many countries such as Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries, which makes the KFC Nassau brand proud to also share our support of the sport in the Bahamas. We look forward to the great collaboration with the BCA and the success of this year’s tournament,” the organisation said in a press release.

In previous interviews with The Tribune, Cricket Festival promoter Paul Thompson said the BCA continues to benefit from the youth initiative it took years ago by hiring an international cricket coach from England to take the game into the country’s schools.

The coach was able to make contact with 26 primary schools in Nassau, seven in Grand Bahama and one in Bimini, where Kwik Cricket was introduced to the young boys and girls.

A total of 13,600 school children were involved in that scheme. Out of that programme, the BCA was able to start an under-15 and under-13 league with four teams in each competition, with the under-15s playing with a hard ball. The under-19 team was also developed with plans in place to sustain the game for years to come.

Many of those team members also advanced to the senior level and participated in the aforementioned Americas Division II tournament hosted in the Bahamas this year.

In their latest major event on the BCA calendar, the Bahamas retained its title in NAGICO T20 event last May.

The two-day event, sponsored by Nagico Insurance and organised by the Guyana Bahamas Association and the Bahamas Cricket Association, was held at Windsor Park over the weekend.

The Bahamas, staying undefeated, pulled off the championship title over the team from The Rest of the World. Jamaica picked up third place by beating host Guyana, who finished winless after losing to the Bahamas in the final last year.

Also in 2015, there was a concentrated effort by countries around the Caribbean to reinvigorate the development of cricket in the region.

Prior to the NAGICO T20, Prime Minister Perry Christie alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell attended a special meeting in St George’s, Grenada, regarding the crisis in West Indian cricket.

Mr Mitchell reported it had been convened to seek a way forward for West Indian cricket which is in crisis.

“The issue facing the region is that the cultural life of the region and the history of the game are intimately tied up with the region’s reputation, image and sense of self,” he said.

“This was a sport which the region dominated in the latter half of the 20th century. It provides a sense of identity for young people throughout the region and provides a good living for scores of West Indian youngsters around the globe. The prime minister was asked in his capacity as chair of CARICOM to lend the weight of his office to a call to the West Indies Cricket Board, the operating entity for West Indies Cricket to change the way of doing business in order to reverse the losing trend and rescue the game from disaffection from young people.”