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• Reviving cricket's spirit: new JCA president Bennett focused on rebuilding sport from its foundation

  “If you really want to kill whatever you do, start from the top going down.”

  Those words by newly-elected Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) president Dr. Donovan Bennett, just about declared that he is armed with a vision and a no-nonsense approach to not only change the narrative of the country’s governing cricket body, but also to rebuild the sport from the youth level up.

  Bennett, who has a passion for cricket, revealed plans for the journey ahead with optimism that he can lead Jamaican cricket into a new era of greatness, after he dethroned Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven 67 to 30 during the JCA’s Annual General Meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre on Thursday.

  Interestingly, Bennett, was a long-serving vice-president to Heaven, who led for over a decade, but said he was forced to challenge for the presidency due to the state of Jamaica’s cricket, and the resounding response from delegates justified his decision.

  Though a bit surprised by the margin of victory, Bennett believes his proven track record at the youth level was what convinced delegates to vote in his favour, denying Heaven a fifth-consecutive term.

  “I suppose because of my work at the youth level. I must say, I was quite successful for a very long time, and if we're going to rebuild Jamaica's cricket, then we've got to start at the bottom and work our way up. So, I think the voters think that they needed somebody who have a proper knowledge of cricket and how to administer it,” Bennett said.

  With well-known administrators Fritz Harris and Dr Akshai Mansingh as his vice presidents, Bennett intends to waste little time rolling out his ambitions for the future of Jamaican cricket. His first order of business was to focus on rebuilding the sport from its foundation –the youth.

  “If you start a building and you build from the top downwards, you're going to have problems. There's only one profession where they start from the top and go to the bottom and that is a gravedigger. So, if you really want to kill whatever you do, start from the top. So, we're going to start from the bottom. We are going to start at the Under-13 level, our first task would be to start building from there,” he declared.

  “Because if you build the Under-13 and you build it properly, then the following year, you will have Under-15 cricketers, and the following year you'll have Under-17 cricketers, and it goes along like that. There's also another gap in that pyramid. Just below the top of the pyramid, we have an Under-23 gap, when players leave the Under-19 level, sometimes they get lost because there is not an Under-23 level to absorb them and to keep them going in the game. It's not going to happen in one year. It's going to take time, but if you do it properly, before you know it, you will have guys who are winners for you,” Bennett explained.

  

  Bennett's approach to youth development is owing to the fact that the country's current crop of senior players, have had very little success in recent times. As such, he and his team are ready to hit the ground running, with the assistance of others, to steer cricket down the right path.

  “I understand the enormity of the task at hand because things are at a very low level right now, but as I told my supporters and my friends that, I can't do it alone, and it's going to take the effort of every cricket loving person to get this thing going. No one of us or no few of us can rebuild cricket in Jamaica. So, it's going to be a process of working with and consulting with all the clubs and parishes. We've got to rebuild that relationship between the clubs and parishes because the JCA is a reflection of the clubs and parishes. So that's where I think we need to go,” he added.

  For Bennett, the implementation of plans, which were shelved by his predecessor, will also take priority on his to-do list. However, with the JCA currently strapped for cash, he is hoping to access funds from Cricket West Indies (UWI) to cushion the shortfall.

  “There are a lot of good plans lying at the JCA. The problem with the JCA has been implementation and getting the funding in place to get these programmes working. So, we need funding, and we need proper implementation. So, the effort has to be there, and the money has to be there. So let us not fool ourselves. If we don't have money, we can't do anything,” Bennett noted.

  He continued: “I think one of the problems that the past administration had is that they didn't get funding because they didn't go and ask for it. We are going to go there and we're going to ask for it, and I'm sure that with the proper presentation and proper plans being drawn to be presented to sponsors, that we will get sponsorship.

  “And I have significant goodwill at CWI level. I mean, I represent Jamaica there, and I have tried my best to be respected and understood by the majority of the directors there, so I expect cooperation at that level. Right now, the CWI owes Jamaica a lot of money, and I am sure that we will get that.”

• 'It is not just Kohli contributing now' – Du Plessis relieved by RCB's IPL improvement

  Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis is relieved by his side's recent Indian Premier League improvement after having an over-reliance on India great Virat Kohli in the early stages of the competition.

  A comfortable 35-run away win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday has lifted spirits for RCB after they had fallen just one run short of reaching a big Kolkata Knight Riders total in their previous outing.

  RCB remain bottom of the standings going into back-to-back matches against the Gujarat Titans, but they approach that double-header with new-found confidence after snapping a miserable six-match losing streak.

  "In the last two games we have shown great signs of fight," Du Plessis said.

  "The [first] SRH game we got to 260 [pursuing a big target], then the KKR game as well, just one run [short]. It was almost a record chase. 

  "We have been close for a while, but you need to win matches to get confidence back in the group. 

  "It is a massive relief. No matter where we are, when you are not winning it does affect you, it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence. 

  "I will sleep a bit easier. For the first half of the tournament only it was only Virat contributing. It is important as a batting line-up to contribute together because we have seen the scores are so big, it's never going to be just one guy scoring the runs."

  Kohli still impressed against SRH, with his 51 – along with a rapid 50 off 20 balls from Rajat Patidar – helping RCB to score 206-7 after opting to bat first.

  There was also a strong outing from Australia all-rounder Cameron Green, who scored 37 not out before taking 2-12 from two overs with the ball and grabbing a huge catch to dismiss SRH dangerman Heinrich Klaasen for just seven.

  Du Plessis added: "The last week and a half we have been working hard to make sure we get better at our own game. 

  "You can see the last game; there is some confidence in our batting. We have got more guys scoring runs now. Rajat playing two really good innings back-to-back, Greeny getting runs. It is massive for him just to get that load off his shoulders. 

  "You can't speak confidence into the group, you can't fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performance. 

  "First half of the competition we certainly felt like we weren't near our full potential. And when you're playing at 50% or 60%, obviously, you try 100%, but you don't get the confidence in your group. 

  "The competition is so strong, the teams are so strong that you'll get hurt [if you are not at 100%]."

  Green thought Du Plessis had taken a risk by choosing to bat first, but it was a decision that paid off.

  He said: "It was [a brave call]. I definitely wasn't in agreement with [batting first] so credit to the captain and coach. SRH have been batting beautifully when they bat first - that was the main reason.

  "We always have to celebrate little wins and we feel pretty good now. Always nice to be back to winning ways."

  Asked about his catch to dismiss Klaasen, he added: "I think the whole time I kept thinking 'Klaasen, Klaasen' in my head!

  "It was up there for a while, happy I hung on to it."

  RCB are away to the Titans on Sunday, before playing at home against Shubman Gill's side on May 4.

• Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election

  Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20^th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

  Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.

  Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.