Plans for A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds excludes Cricket

 BY DEAN GREENAWAY

When the Combined Virgin Islands lost their 3-day Leeward Islands Cricket Association encounter to Montserrat at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds on June 27, it marked the last regional match that will be played at the venue that has hosted the sport for the last 36 years. After the local season ends in the coming weeks, the BVI Cricket Association must find a new home.

“That thing has been giving me a nightmare,” association president Theodore Skeete lamented. “I have learnt that there are some plans by the present administration—government that is—to put down an artificial surface for track and field. I would only hope that if that decision is made and if that project is realized, that government would in the not too distant future, have us accommodated elsewhere.”

Skeete said it isn’t the best idea when one thinks of the February to March Carib Cup series. Scheduled matches over the last two years, including Kenya this year, have been played elsewhere. “All this information I have brought to the attention of the minister of sports, (Lloyd) Black,” Skeete said. “From talking with him, I must say that I’ve gotten the impression and more than the impression that he wants to see some more Carib Cup cricket here.”

Black said plans for the grounds will affect Cricket and he’s currently having discussions with a real estate company to look at areas throughout the BVI that can possibly be leased for other sporting organizations such as cricket and soccer. “While they will be affected in the short term, we are mindful of the concerns that they have and we are actively looking for land that we can use to erect other sporting facilities to benefit other organizations,” Black said.

Skeete says he want to believe that policy makers would not do anything to prevent or reduce the possibility or the potential of any Carib Cup match coming to the BVI. “Yes, the Carib Cup brings in visitors, tourists who are going to spend dollars. And if we base our argument on the first Busta Cup match that was brought here, that is the right way to go,” he suggested. “And if that is the right way to go, then to do anything with the A. O. Shirley Grounds that would prevent the Carib Cup from coming here next year, in my view would be a relatively unwise decision.”

Black said work on the track is expected to begin before year end. “I would anticipate that cricket would be affected for approximately one year. If we can find the property sooner, there should not be any interruption in the games that would be scheduled such as the Busta Cup which can be held here in the BVI,” Black explained. “But, in the short team, that there would probably be a one year break before we can get back into competitive leagues.”