Enhancing Cricket Development in Barbados: Assessing the Impact of Upgrades at Kensington Oval on Young Cricketers

It would be wise for the chairman of the local organising committee for the ICC T20 tournament to temper his enthusiasm about opportunities being created for young proficient Barbadian cricketers.

Kensington Oval has been upgraded and Barbados is one of the venues co-hosting the tournament. The only thing now left to be accomplished is for spectators to fill every space available to watch the matches.

Noel Lynch is quoted as saying that the venue (Kensington Oval) will be used to foster new cricketing talent. Are local cricket enthusiasts to understand that new cricketing talent could not be fostered without infrastructural upgrades, additional stands, an expanded media centre, and improved toilet facilities?

It is difficult to believe that these improvements alone would create opportunities for young proficient Barbados cricketers. It is highly unlikely that upgrades to infrastructure at Kensington Oval can be a significant factor in fostering new cricketing talent. While expanded and improved facilities can be part and parcel of growth and development, the opportunities young cricketers seek will be derived from specific developmental plans and programs directly and personally suited for them.

Based on what is being published in the media, Kensington Oval is a venue that the government is anxious to convert into a multi-purpose entertainment centre, rather than preserving its reputation as the Mecca of cricket in the Caribbean.

What Barbados urgently needs is a minimum of five Cricket Academies catering to the northern, southern, eastern, western and central parts of the island. A single upgraded facility such as Kensington Oval is not sufficient.

A public-private partnership between the Cricket Legends of Barbados, the Barbados Cricket Association, and the Government of Barbados could be the engine that propels such a vehicle.

Oh, there is a courtship between the Chinese and the Barbados government; let us use it to our best advantage.

Michael Ray