By Neto Baptiste
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon Rodney, has warned that a decision regarding the halted Two Day cricket competition may not be soon in coming.
His statement comes even amidst speculation that the current 30-day lockdown on all sporting activities will more than likely be extended by the Ministry of Sports, further complicating process.
Rodney said the matter is still with the association’s cricket committee.
“You know we have a cricket committee that deals with competitions and so forth and I’ve spoken to the vice president, Kenny Lewis, a couple of weeks now and asking him to get his committee together, have a look at it and make some recommendations and let the board have a look at it and see where we go,” he said.
“Unlike football, where I think they only had two more rounds [Premier Division], our tournament was just completing its fifth round, and so it put us in a very awkward position, and to be honest with you, I think it is shaping up that this corona thing is not a joke,” he added.
The cricket association’s Two Day competition was in full swing when the sports ministry announced, in early March, a month long suspension of all sporting activities.
Rodney however said that he is not optimistic that any sporting competition will resume in short order.
“We must accept that even if they find a cure for corona tomorrow, that this is not going to come to an end in 15 days, and so it seems as though it is going to become a long haul situation, so we will have to weigh all the options once the cricket committee would have met and then we sit and deal with it, and say this is what it is or this is what it is going to be. It’s going to be a very tough decision to be made because when you sit in these chairs you have to be prepared to make very tough decisions,” he said.
Jennings Cricket Club was, after five rounds of matches, leading the Two Day cricket competition and was followed by Empire Nation with PLC Blackhawks in the third slot.
