The cricket fraternity in The Bahamas is a bit stagnant these days. Within the Bahamas Cricket Association (BCA) a lot of infighting has been going on for quite a few years now.
In my view there is really no administrative stability at this time. There are court matters still pending as members have taken legal action to pursue their very own agendas. The BCA is now more of a battleground than an entity that positively does its part in nation building, through sports.
It is from this backdrop that, I sought out a voice of knowledge, experience and neutrality.
Reference is to the nation's most advanced cricketer, Ivan Johnson. He has been for the last 20 years or so, synonymous with the very popular tabloid, The Punch newspaper. Before that, he worked at The Tribune and in the United Kingdom as a journalist of note.
In Europe though, when his name is mentioned, most people remember the young Bahamian cricket player from the early 1970s. A left-handed middle-order batsman, Johnson is to this day, the only Bahamian to compete in professional first-class cricket as a contracted player.
A highlight of his career was playing for Worcestershire County Cricket Club in England, 1972-1975.
Johnson knows cricket.
While he remains hopeful that Bahamian cricket will one day realize its potential, he is realistic that several basic ingredients are vitally necessary to the structure of the sport.
"First of all, the cricket pitch is much too hard. It's not the appropriate surface and will continue to discourage young players because the cricket ball is very hard and it comes off the surface presenting a great deal of difficulty. We can upgrade our facility to international standards. Haynes Oval is quite suitable and can be transformed to the correct cricket pitch.

"But, there has to be the will to do it. Then, there is the issue of cricket in the schools. This is the very foundation of the sport's development process. You have to start with the very young if you want one day for our players to develop into the finest in the world.
"Getting cricket into the schools on an ongoing basis is necessary, but also, along with this must come experienced teachers who can groom the young players properly," said Johnson.
During the height of the Allen Stanford (the financial sponsor for cricket in the region who is presently in U.S. custody awaiting trial for massive fraud) era for a short period, there was a solid school cricket program in New Providence. However, Johnson speaks to the continuity of cricket as a part of the school curriculum.
He is also a strong advocate for eliminating the bad habits that in many instances are non-cricket. Johnson gave the example of the baseball-type bowling.
"It's all about the arm action. Because many of our cricket players came up through the sport of baseball, the delivery is not right. If you are going to make it to first-class bowling, you've got to do it right," said Johnson.
The only Bahamian to play cricket at Test or International level certainly has the insight. Will he get involved in the national development of the sport one day and be in a hands-on position to contribute?
Johnson addresses that prospect in part two of this series, to be published tomorrow.
 
(To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at fredericksturrup@gmail.com).

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