P.J. Patterson heads the committee which reviewed regional cricket.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

The Patterson committee set up to look at the governance of West Indies cricket has called on the ruling West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to audit the state of club cricket.

The committee, headed by former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, and including former CARICOM Secretary General Sir Alister McIntyre and noted historian Dr. Ian McDonald, has a dim view of club cricket in the Caribbean at present.

Formula for success

The committee cited that the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA), in a recent document outlining its formula for success in South African cricket, stated that they desperately need strong clubs because clubs represented the transition between schools and first-class competitions.

The committee also remarked that if clubs were not competing at an inspirational level to young players, investment in their development programme would be lost.

The Patterson committee also studied a submission from the Guyana Cricket Board which stated that the quality of cricket played at school, club and regional levels must be improved significantly and urgently.

Disturbing modern trends

The committee said that club cricket has been a major contributor to the game in the West Indies but there are now some disturbing modern trends. One of them is that in some Caribbean countries, notably Jamaica, few or no new clubs have been established in recent decades.

More seriously, the committee said, the framework of club life in the entire region is under threat, with many clubs experiencing difficult times.