Tony BeccaTHE 2001 Busta cricket series gets underway on Friday and with eight teams involved, including England A and West Indies B. The expectation, particularly that of the West Indies Board, is that it will be a season to remember.
According to the board, the presence of a visiting A team will lift the standard of the tournament, the presence of the West Indies B team will offer opportunities to more young cricketers in the region and, in time, the presence of both will contribute to a higher standard of cricket and ultimately to a stronger West Indies team.
As important as the participation of the England A team and the West Indies B team may be to the future of West Indies cricket, what promises to make the season one to remember is the format which will see two titles at stake - the Busta Cup and the Busta International Shield.
In the new format, all eight teams will play each other once, but although points will be awarded to every team based on performance, the Busta Cup will go to the territorial team with the most points. That means the Busta Cup can only be won by one of the six traditional teams - Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands.
After that, the four teams with the most points will contest the Busta International Shield.
With the England A team boasting some of England's finest prospects and expected to be strong, with the possibility that in their bid to win the Busta Cup the territorial teams may have to outplay the visitors, and with some wonderful incentives also available for the regional teams, especially for performances against the visitors, the stage is set for a lovely, exciting contest.
A lovely contest, however, even an exciting one, does not necessarily mean good cricket, West Indies cricket will only benefit from the experiment if the cricket is good, and although each territory will be cheering for their team, cricket fans around the region are hoping not only that their team will win, but also, and probably even more importantly, there will be some good cricket.
That is the challenge facing the young cricketers of the region and this is a glorious opportunity for them - particularly those who believe that they have the skills to represent the West Indies and those whose fans believe they should now be representing the West Indies.
For the batsmen, skill, or so-called skill, without runs is nothing; and for the bowlers, skill, or so-called skill, without wickets is nothing. What is important is performance and in order to perform they may have to change their approach.
In recent times, in their bid to impress, too many young cricketers in the region have become too cautious and too timid, because of that the batsmen do not strike the ball, the bowlers are not aggressive, and in the process they fail to make runs, to take wickets and to stamp their class on proceedings.
Now is the time to be positive. As Sherwin Campbell did on Monday night (local time), now is the time for the batsmen to express themselves, instead of pace bowlers attempting to bowl just short of a length and spin bowlers bowling defensively while hoping the batsmen make mistakes, now is the time for the fast bowlers to bowl fast, for the medium-fast, fast-medium bowlers to swing and cut the ball, and for the spin bowlers to vary their spin and the degree of spin, to vary their flight and to use the crease.
As the young cricketers of the region prepare for the new season, they should remember that as it is in life, so it is in cricket, and that in life fortune favours the brave.
They should also remember a man is at his best doing what he does best.
