By Tony Becca, Senior Sport EditorTHE JAMAICA Cricket Association is moving full steam ahead in its effort to improve the country's cricket.
The first move was to change the format of the top league, and when this year's competition gets under way on April 26 it will be a promotion and relegation system with the top teams, based on last year's standings, playing in the Super League and the bottom teams in the Senior League with the bottom two teams in the Super League relegated to the Senior League and the top two teams in the Senior League promoted to the Super League at the end of each season.
The second move is a transfer system which has been proposed by the Cricket Development Committee and which is now before the Board for possible changes and ratification.
In recent years, the clubs and parishes have been concerned over the uncontrolled movement of players from one club/parish to another, and the purpose of the proposed transfer system is stop it.
With the introduction of a Super league and a Senior League, there is also a fear by teams in Senior League and the association that players from teams in the Senior League will move to teams in the Super League, and another purpose for the transfer system is to prevent that from happening without due process.
According to the proposal before the Board, the objectives of the transfer system include not only a proper system that will involve the players, the teams from which they want to move and the teams to which they want to go, but also payment to the clubs/parishes from which players are moving.
The opinion of the development committee is that players should not be allowed to just get up and go and that the clubs/parishes from which they are moving should be compensated for the talent they are losing and the investment they have made.
Based on the proposal, there will be three types of transfers - Free transfer in which a player may be declared a free agent by his association or club with all fees waived; Loan transfer in which a player may be released to another member club/parish on a temporary basis provided he has not represented his club/parish for more than half the season; and Regular transfer in which a player may at any time apply to his club/parish for a transfer but which the club/parish can refuse.
As far as the Regular transfer is concerned, the proposal is calling for a fee per player ranging from $15,000 for a national youth player to $100,000 for a Test player.
