By Neto Baptiste
President of the Liberta Sports Club and former West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth Benjamin, stopped short of declaring that the country’s Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew, got what he deserved after cricket clubs boycotted a recent meeting he had requested through the local cricket association.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Benjamin took Matthew to task over the move, suggesting that his attempts to persuade clubs to backtrack on their decision to not compete in the private Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion would have failed.
“A lot of those folks and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, who are calling in and talking about the clubs disrespect the minister, I just want to say this, who is the minister, Daryll Matthew, that believes he can call meeting with the clubs. We have an association so if you want then you speak to the association and they speak with us. If the associations couldn’t get the clubs to change their minds with the Cool & Smooth then why does the minister think he could get them to change their minds?” he said.
Matthew, last week, attempted to meet with nine of the cricket association’s 10 clubs in an effort to dialog over possible solutions to the impasse which has resulted in the cancellation of the popular tournament for a second straight year.

Only one club turned out for the meeting on the first attempts while only two attended the rescheduled meeting.
Benjamin urged the minister to call a meeting to discuss issues raised by the clubs some time prior to the Cool & Smooth debacle.
“We felt there are lots of other issues that need addressing in terms of local cricket rather than the Cool & Smooth so deal with those and let’s take them in order. Maybe then we will hear you and your concerns about Cool & Smooth. We have concerns that can’t be heard and when we put them out there they are ignored and then all of a sudden, we must turn up to listen to you speak about Cool & Smooth? People must stop believing they have a right to just dictate when people turn up to meetings and when they don’t. The clubs have put themselves together and are working together for cricket and we’ll stand up to anybody,” he said.
Negotiations broke down between local clubs and members of the organizing committee for the popular T20 tournament in 2024 after they could not reach an agreement over payment for players. Clubs also pointed to a decision by founder of the tournament and a major sponsor, Amer Hourani of Cool & Smooth, to deny a request for a meeting as a major factor in their decision to opt out of the competition.