One area of cricket that I have been very impressed with is our youth cricket. Having been around to see one or two games over the past few weeks our youth cricket seems to be flourishing, but do notice I said seems to be. I say that because in one breath we have an abundance of young cricketers playing the game, but in another breath many of them disappear by time they reach 16?

It is quite obvious that we continuously have generation gaps in cricket. After my era, there was a big gap and then OJ Pitcher, Rodney Trott and Delyone Borden came along. Since which, there has been another generation gap and we are now seeing the Alex Dores, Delray Rawlinses and Nhyrobi Carmichaels. So my question is why is it that we continuously have these gaps when we have such an abundance of young cricketers in our youth programmes?

I used to feel that we did not have the right people coaching our young cricketers, but that has changed somewhat. From what I have seen as of late, a lot of current players are investing their time and giving something back to their youth programmes, which is awesome and much needed.

Prime example, on Wednesday night, I witnessed Bailey’s Bay versus Cleveland County under-11s and to see the likes of Corey Hill and Jermaine Outerbridge working with the Bay youngsters. While on the other hand, Carlton Smith and Courtney Trott were working with the Cleveland youngsters. All recent and current players giving something back to the game and this seems to be the norm these days, which is excellent to see.

I know that in the western end of the island, Dexter Basden, Cal Waldron, Lorenzo Tucker and other current cricketers are doing their best to see that their respective clubs’ young players are being taught correctly and playing cricket regularly, too.

However, the problem lies, and has been the case for several years, that these young players simply do not play enough cricket and that is why we continuously have these generation gaps. Some believe that the gaps are because we do not play enough school cricket, but school cricket is not going to get better any time soon.

My belief is that our children do not play enough cricket. I have said it before and I will say it again, it baffles me why our youth cricket stops in June, when July and August are our peak cricketing months.

Mind you, the problem is even deeper than that. I hate dredging up the good ol’ days, but in this case I will. I had a conversation just this week with someone and we were talking about how things use to be. Back in the day, if you travelled from St George’s to Somerset, you would see cricket being played in the parks, on the fields, in the streets, wherever they could find space. Nowadays, if you see any youngsters playing outside, you are lucky. Not to say they don’t, but it is scarce.

Today our cricket has to compete with so many other entities and sports that if we do not totally capture their interest, we lose them in their mid-teens. Hence the reason why we no longer have an under-17 league. So our real challenge is how do we keep our boys interested beyond the age of 14?

Why does it appear that football does not have the same problem? Could it be that most Bermuda clubs are more interested in developing football than cricket? How often do you hear of clubs taking their young cricketers on a cricket tour? Very rare, but they are always flying out of here on football tours.

I know as a young cricketer, I went on tour with the St George’s senior team at the age of 14 and I enjoyed the challenge. The tour was a phenomenal experience. However, some 30 years later, St George’s cricketers have not been on tour again. Do not get me wrong, this is not me having a go at St George’s, but a mere statement to prove a point because other clubs, if not all, are in the same predicament when it comes to taking youth teams on tours.

If we are to keep cricket alive in Bermuda, we must invest in our young cricketers. Give them the exposure that is needed. Take them to England and let them walk into Lord’s and feel the atmosphere. Let them see the indoor facility, which will blow their minds. Let them meet the greats of cricket such as Sir Ian Botham, David Gower. Let them experience playing on lush green fields, or training in an academy set-up to see the professionalism that other young cricketers display. The exposure alone would capture them and keep them interested.

Bermuda, it is basically time for us to think outside the box where our children and young cricketers are concerned. If cricket is to have a chance to flourish in years to come, we must invest in our youth. Keep an eye out in weeks to come as I, along with some others, will be doing my part to help elevate youth cricket in Bermuda.

Quote of the week: “Young people need models not critics” — John Wooden