DR. WAYNE Reid, chairman of the steering committee set up to prepare Jamaica's bid to host matches in the 2007 World Cup cricket tournament, has asked the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and other affiliates of the West Indies Board to find out how the profits from the tournament will be distributed.
Speaking at the JCA's annual presentation ceremony at the Hilton Hotel, New Kingston on Tuesday night, Dr. Reid said that it is important that the affiliates know if the money will be distributed and, if so, how it will be distributed.
According to Dr. Reid, the money should be distributed to the affiliates and they should know how it will be done from now.
"It is important that the affiliates know what will happen as it will serve as a motivating factor to the countries bidding to host games and to those who will host games. It is only reasonable to believe that if they know that they will receive a share of the profits and how the profits will be shared, they will work harder to make it a success."
In a detailed presentation of what is necessary to host matches during the World Cup, Dr. Lewis said that although the venue for matches in Jamaica has not yet been decided, Jamaica will be bidding for the final.
"We are going for it, and we will be doing everything in our power to get it," said Dr. Reid.
Among other stipulations coming from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the venue for the semi-finals and the final must accommodate in excess of 30,000 spectators, and the decision to be made is whether to renovate Sabina Park or to build a new stadium in Trelawny.
According to Dr. Reid, the steering committee has been looking at the two proposals and in another few days it will make a recommendation to the Government.
DEVELOPMENT OF CRICKETERS
Earlier in the proceedings, master of ceremonies Laurie Sharp, a member of the Sabina Park Development Company, bemoaned the present state of West Indies cricket and suggested that maybe the approach to the development of young cricketers may have to be looked at - certainly here in Jamaica.
In recent years, the JCA has been putting on camps for young players and, after giving an idea of the cost of such camps, after lamenting the fact that not much in terms of good players was coming out of them, Sharp suggested, to a ringing round of applause, that maybe that money should go to the clubs where he now believes it would serve a better purpose.
Dr. Reid, also a member of the Sabina Park Development Company, echoed Sharp's sentiments while saying that something must be done to attract more boys to the game and to motivate those who are playing the game.
According to Dr. Reid, money, the ability to earn, is a great motivating factor, and yet while youngsters know what they can earn if they play football or do track and field, no one knows what he can earn if he becomes a West Indies cricketer.
"No one knows how much a West Indies player earns for a one-day match, and no one knows how much a player earns for a Test match. That is not right, especially from what I have heard, players can earn hundreds of thousands of United States dollars in a year. I believe that if youngsters know what they can earn, more of them will play the game and that will be good for West Indies cricket."