Test cricket still has a place – Henry
ISSA rural cricket chairman George Henry has said that the decision to have a rural area high school Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, the ISSA/GraceKennedy Financial Group Spalding T20 Cup, is not because the body feels that Test cricket is dying.
“ISSA is not of the view that Test cricket is dying. What we at ISSA want is to have more persons interested in the game,” said Henry, while speaking at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Financial Group Spalding Three-Day Cricket competition’s play-off between hosts St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Innswood High School on Thursday.
“We have seen the need for the game to get an injection. We are hoping also that with its introduction, more youngsters will not only be excited about the shorter format, but rather the sport of cricket in general. We want to rebuild Jamaica’s cricket and to a larger extent help in the improvement of West Indies cricket,” he said.
Henry, who believes the sport is losing youngsters to the other sports that are more exciting because of quick results, is optimistic things can positively change in a matter of months.
“The culture is there but it is just that we need to have the youngsters getting used to the shorter versions. That is why at ISSA, we have decided that we will have the T20s this year. I’m sure that come next year we will have more persons being interested in watching and playing this game,” said Henry.