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A former long-standing Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) employee feels there is some degree of aloofness between the admin-istration and clubs.

Basil Matthews, the association’s executive secretary between 1986 and 1995 is, however, refusing to lash out at clubs for their failure to submit match reports to the BCA.

Matthews was speaking against the background of a BCA report that the vast majority of the clubs in its five divisions had not handed in match reports.

'The clubs have a responsibility to submit their reports, but we have got to recognise that clubs do not always have a person to do this,' he said in response to a query from NATIONSPORT amidst growing debate on Saturday’s Sports Everywhere programme of Voice of Barbados 92.9 FM.

'I wouldn’t come out and condemn the clubs. They are not professional to say that they have paid personnel to sit down and do these things. The BCA has got to meet them halfway.'

In releasing standings last Wednesday (see accompanying table), the BCA marked an asterisk against those teams which did not submit match reports.

Calculations by NATIONSPORT revealed that almost 100 of the 122 teams competing in the Division 1, Intermediate Premier, Intermediate Zonal, Division 2 and Schools’ competitions had complied with Rule 18 of the Special Conditions and Regulations of Play.

'The solution is to have a better understanding with the clubs,' Matthews said. 'I don’t think they feel wanted at this time. There is still an aloofness, a separation, between the administration and the clubs.'

Matthews said there was also a problem with obtaining results when he was in office, but it was not as widespread as the current one.

In addition to 'proper liasion with the clubs', he depended on results in the Press and there was also an 'answering service' at Kensington Oval where clubs could phone in their results.

In view of the existing problem, Matthews was asked if he believed penalties for teams could help solve that:

'We threatened clubs with that, but you cannot penalise a club if it has earned eight points or three points or one point,' he said.

'That is against the natural laws of justice.'

He felt strongly that clubs would show more interest if standings were published regularly.

'When a club sees they have (been credited) 16 points, when in fact they have 36, they will call you right away and say, ‘You have me as 16’ and I would say, ‘You didn’t submit (match reports)’.'

© The Barbados Nation