It was disappointing, not so much because of the poor performance of some of the teams, but because of the absence of some of the teams.
Citing financial problems and late disbursement of sponsorship money by the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control, teams from the county of Cornwall decided almost on the eve of the opening round to pull out of the competition. Although they changed their minds following a promise by the Board to pay up as quickly as possible, it was a move, which was not in the best interest of the game and should be condemned by all the other members of the fraternity.
According to the Board, all is now well, the teams have decided to play and the first-round matches in which they were involved will now be played on Sunday. All however, is not well. The Cornwall teams are not the only ones suffering financially. Almost all the other teams are in the same financial position and yet, in the interest of the game, they were all ready to play - to fulfil their obligation.
No one can deny the cost of playing cricket these days and for teams participating in the all-island competition, it must be difficult funding travel and accommodation. That however, is no excuse for pulling out at the last minute.
Over the years, the Board has been guilty of many things, including its attitude to dictate and its failure to properly communicate with its affiliates. There is also no question that despite promises, that even when it receives the money in good time, the Board has been tardy in disbursing sponsors money.
Apart from the fact this time around it was not however, the Board's fault, and that the teams knew of the problems, the affiliates should remember a few things.
One, is that the Board is as strong as its affiliates; two, is that the affiliates are the ones who vote in Board members; and three, is that while the Board has a responsibility to seek funding for competitions and therefore to assist the participating teams, participation is not mandatory, participation is for those who wish to participate, and the teams are obligated to fund themselves.
Some of those who are now condemning the Board, not only for late disbursement of sponsors money but also for not finding enough money to facilitate their participation, should also remember that apart from the simple fact that funding their participation should be their responsibility, they were among the group of rural representatives who, during the debate on whether or not there should have been an all-island competition, gathered at Content Gardens in St. Ann in the late 1980s and demanded one.
On that day, there were concerns about funding, and the rural reps, in one accord, said don't tell us what we can afford and what we cannot we want it and we will fund our way.
The Board, apparently, has solved the problem, and as it has said, those matches which were not played on Saturday will be played on Sunday. Apart from the added expenses however, what if the teams who were down to host those matches have other commitments, what if the grounds are not available, and what if the players of the opposing teams have other engagements?
The Board probably did not even think about those possibilities. On the other hand, maybe it did but decided it did not matter.