BY MIKE KING

IT'S NO SECRET that Division 1 cricket has seen better days and cries out for an infusion of ideas or some sort of initiative to revive it.

That is why the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has to be given some credit for having a coach attached to each of the 16 Division 1 teams.

The season has just started and I suppose after 100 days – that seemsto be the popular time frame for measuring performance over the first phase – an evaluation should be done on the success or failure of the programme.

Clearly, the BCA thinks that having a coach working with each team on a lengthy basis will make a difference and enhance what has been a sub-standard competition for several years now.

Certainly, it can't be business as usual with the standard of domestic cricket declining every season and Joel Garner, Conde Riley and company being forced to implement new methods at every turn.

The BCA has every reason to be worried as there are myriad problems dogging the sport. Sponsorship, the quality of the grounds, the umpiring and standard of play are areas for concern.

Having a coach for every team is well-meaning but it is just the tip of the iceberg.

It does not help either when we are now struggling to sustain the interest of the few good players still involved in the game. It is now more attractive financially to play in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Over the weekend, many teams fielded B and in some cases C sides which further devalued and diluted a weak product.

Your national team cannot be strong if your domestic base is weak.

It applies to football as well. We can't beat teams in the region if we draw only from our modest pool in the Digicel premiership.

Technical advisor Keith Griffith and captain Norman Forde have acknowledged the need for more pros. Barbados, ranked 116th in the world, scored two goals in two matches against lightweight Dominica and according to Griffith, a request has been made for six to eight overseas players to lend depth and experience to the team.

Griffith says the team was not afraid of the United States, ranked 21 in the world, but even he must admit, it will require something special to overcome the Americans in the World Cup qualifiers next month.

Before the test, the first of the mid-term exams will kick-off on Sunday when we face the highest ranked (89) English-speaking Caribbean side in the world, Trinidad's Soca Warriors, away from home at the Marvin Lee Stadium.