There has been a significant increase in the number of teams losing matches by default in the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) domestic competitions.
Investigations by WEEKENDSPORT have revealed that there were 50 instances of teams forfeiting matches in the BCA’s lower divisions this year, more than double from the previous season when there were 24 and more than triple the 2013 season in which there were 15.
A tabulation of results on the BCA website for the 2017 season showed 24 matches were lost by default in the Division 2 competition, 15 in Intermediate and 11 in the 40-over Shield – the vast majority occurred when teams were unable to take the field with the minimum requirement of seven players.
While acknowledging the growing trend, BCA director of cricket Steven Leslie said they had been monitoring the teams that had been consistently defaulting games over the past two seasons and had met with some of the clubs to ascertain the challenges they were experiencing with a view to continue the dialogue to address the matter.
“There has clearly been a shift by some players within the clubs. The BCA believes that educating the management of the respective clubs will assist in being able to attract members back and to ensure that once they join clubs that they are part of a club environment and not just representing a team,” Leslie told WEEKENDSPORT.
“The reality that we face is that a number of interests have caused players not to be interested as in the past. We hope to work with the clubs and their management in order to attract players back to the clubs and to fully participate in their club life.”
A glance at the list of matches where teams defaulted showed that several were towards the end of the season when some clubs had little or no chance of advancing to the semi-finals or quarter-finals where applicable.
The last three rounds of matches in the two-day Division 2 competition yielded ten default results while there were a similar number for the final two series of the three-day Intermediate competition and seven forfeitures in last round of the 40-over Shield.
Former powerhouses Malvern were far and away the biggest defaulters in the 2017 season, having lost seven matches by this route – four in Intermediate and three in Division 2.
Club president Victor Sobers attributed the challenges to work commitments by some players, especially those in the construction industry who were often required for duty on Saturdays and a decision by the BCA to bring forward the start of matches by half-hour.
“Malvern is known for its cricket . . . when I think of yesteryear and you start to compare what would have occurred with most of the guys being out in their numbers . . . there is a great shift in cricket,” he said.
“We need to see how we can get more of the youngsters involved in cricket. It is unfortunate that a lot of them are gravitating towards football.”
Malvern were once one formidable unit, having won the Shield competition and holding their own with Division 1 clubs in the Cup, but struggled badly this season, especially in Intermediate they whey lost eight of their nine matches and finished with just one point.
Belleplaine, who finished one from bottom in Zone B of Intermediate, were one of four teams to lose three matches by default this season – the others were Bristol, BWU and Market Hill.
“Our major challenge is the location that we have to play now. There are transportation issues,” said Belleplaine second vice president Andrew Yearwood.
“Our home is Belleplaine, but due to the lack of a proper pavilion we had to move to Farmers. That posed challenges with the players and club life as a whole. From being a community based group, we have to go outside as well. That was one of the major challenges. We are hoping to get the pavilion back in Belleplaine, but I am not sure how that is working.” (HG)
