23, May-2004 by Ezra Stuart

UNITY IS NEEDED in Barbados and West Indies cricket.

That is the message which international cricket commentator Tony Cozier sent to the Barbadian cricket fraternity Friday night.

Delivering the feature address at the annual Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) Awards ceremony at Sherbourne Conference Centre, he told the gathering of players and administrators “a house divided among itself cannot stand”.

“We now have a situation in Barbados cricket where a trophy cannot be presented because of a court case,” Cozier said as he referred to the controversy surrounding the unfinished 2003 Intermediate championship.

“And it is flabbergasting to me that the challenge has come from a school whose principal is asenior vice-presidentof the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA),against whom the casehas been lodged.”

Speightstown-based secondary school, Alexandra, took the BCA to court after the cricketing body ruled one of their players ineligible and awarded their protesting opponents,Her Majesty Prison Officers, victory in their semifinal match.

But the Supreme Court later ruled that the BCA failed to give Alexandra a hearing even though acknowledging the player was not eligible to play. The matter is nowin the hands of theBCA’s lawyers.

“These are worrying signs that West Indies cricket and Barbados cricket is not as united as it should be,” Cozier said. “We need unity. We are coming up to the 2007 World Cup and if we are not united, all of us in planning for that World Cup, in preparing for it, we will make a mess of it and will look stupid in the eyes of the world.”

The veteran cricket writer said the West Indies can stage the best ever World Cup but reiterated that togetherness is the key.

“We’ve made our cricket the best in the world and we could make this World Cup the best as well, but have to be pulling all together. We cannot have ourselves pulling against each other,” he said.

BCA’s first vice-president David Holford apologised for the lateness of the awards ceremony, noting it was due to the differences the association had with Alexandra.

Holford called that situation “unnecessary, distasteful and harmful” and said it was “designed to frustrate the BCA” whose role he pointed out was to manage the game of cricket in Barbados.

Compliments of the Nation News

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