Jamaica Cricket Association cautious about reopening

3 years ago

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Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) CEO Courtney Francis has insisted the sporting body would continue to err on the side of caution as it relates to the decision to restart the sport on the island.

As part of efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus, local competitive cricket has not been played on the island since March.  The government recently announced to attempt the resumption of course on a case-by-case basis.

Cricket has not been stopped entirely.  Recently, members of the Jamaica national team were prepared and dispatched to take part in the regional Super 50 competition currently under way in Antigua.  Francis is, however, concerned that resuming the sports on the local level will involve significant investment at the parish level, in terms of implementing and abiding by protocols and that could lead to strained resources.

“We at the JCA, we have resubmitted, but we are very cautious.  We will not engage in any competitions just yet but we are encouraging persons or members to have practice programs so we have activities going across the island,” Francis said.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that to date only two of our players has contracted the virus and based on the contact tracing they did not contract the virus here at Sabina Park where we had most of our activities,” added.

 “So, getting out there and putting those responsibilities on clubs and parishes is going to be a little bit more tedious for those clubs and parishes based on the resources they have available because they have significantly less than what we are able to find here.”