Former Nevis and Leeward Islands ace opening batsman, Javia Liburd, is normally mild-mannered and easy-going. However, Liburd approached the media to vent his feelings about the state of Nevis Cricket. Liburd informed that he stills maintains very good contacts with certain players within the team and has therefore received confirmed information, about the indiscipline on behalf of senior and junior players within the ranks and an utter lack of respect for other players and the management staff.
He noted that in a previous tournament held in Montserrat last year, he heard of similar reports and anticipated certain radical changes to the team. He stated that he was appalled to note that virtually the same players were sent to Antigua for the recently concluded Leeward Islands tournament.
‘I was hoping that they would do well, but deep down I expected them to fail because the attitudes are not right,’ he said. Some of the behaviors that he mentioned included the swearing of expletives to management officials by some players; a general show of disrespect; not focusing on the Cricket and such like. He admitted that during his playing days, the players may have committed the occasional infractions, but these bunch of guys seem to absolutely not care.
He mentioned Malcolm Ramsey as a very firm and no-nonsense type of Manager, when he managed the Nevis team, some time ago. He implemented punitive measures for infractions and the players were brought into line.
He recommends that the Nevis Cricket Association put certain established rules and guidelines in place, which if not adhered to, would attract certain specifically outlined punitive measures.
He is also recommending that persons placed in management positions should be around the team during the trial matches, interacting with the players and guiding them into proper behaviours once they are representing the island.
Liburd mentioned that he took a lot of pride in representing Nevis and the team then played the Cricket hard. He stated that it hurts him to see what Nevis Cricket has come to and feels that those individuals who are leading in the poor behaviour patterns should be removed from the team.