The fast bowler got the attention of the region and world in 2017 when he bowled with express pace at the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Despite some promising cameos, however, Thomas has not lived up to that promise and is currently out of the Windies squad.
The player’s conditioning has also been a source of concern with the bowler looking several pounds overweight and not approaching speeds seen earlier on. Perry believes, however, that a part of the problem was the player’s introduction in the shortest format.
“When I saw O’Shane and he was bowling real quick, yes there were some inconsistencies in his delivery but when he gets right he can be very lethal,” Perry told the Mason and Guest radio show.
“I said to my colleagues in the Caribbean and Jamaica, we need to play O’Shane Thomas in four-day cricket. He needs to play the long version of the game, he needs to learn how to bowl. Learn the art of bowling.
“If you blood someone in T20 cricket where all they have to do is bowl short, not sure were you going to land the delivery. If you play four-day cricket and you are bowling 20 overs a day you are going to learn the art of bowling and bowling more consistently,” he added.
‘Your body will be stronger and you will have a better work ethic.”
Although an election date is yet to set, Jamaica Cricket Association president (JCA) Wilford Billy Heaven is expected to run unopposed for a fourth two-year team when the annual general meeting is held.
He has successfully held off two challenges, winning by only four votes on the last occasion, but many in the country’s local cricketing circles believe he would still emerge victorious if confronted by any opposition in the 2021 election.
Perry, however, sees the continued re-election of the official and his slate, unchallenged, or being re-elected by big margins as incongruous when juxtaposed against the current state of the game on the island.
“I think we definitely need change. I cannot understand why it is that we have not won anything over the years, we have been last, second to last, we’ve only won one trophy out of 30-odd, and at the end of the day the administration is winning by a landslide,” Perry told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Something is wrong if people keep voting for persons who are not delivering. I don’t believe you should be there because at the end of the day we need positive results. We need the team to be doing well, we need to produce a lot of Test cricketers and a lot of first-class cricketers,” he added.
“I’m not only saying Billy Heaven should be removed but that the delegates who continue to vote for a particular board need to examine themselves. At the end of the day, if cricket is what you are really there for and you are not getting the results then why is it that you continue to put those persons to lead. You don’t have the cricket at heart, somehow you have some sort of agenda.”
If confirmed, it could mean a second consecutive challenge for incumbent Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven. Heaven easily saw off opposition from former vice-president Mark Neita in 2019 to secure a third two-year term.
While insisting that, at this point, a decision had yet to be made, Perry admitted that he was far from pleased with the current state of cricket on the island of Jamaica and it was an option he was strongly considering.
“It could be a possibility. I’m not confirming that but I’m still giving it some thought. It’s a lot that you have to give up,” Perry, who recently became president of Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA), told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“I strongly believe that we need some very good leadership and we need some serious work to bring back our cricket. Our cricket is in a desperate situation and I think that management and leadership, we have to start from there to get everything streamlined so that the pathway is very clear,” he added.
Heaven has been president of the JCA since 2013 when then-president Lyndel Wright did not seek re-election. Of interest, however, is the fact that Heaven’s upcoming re-election bid will be the first since the JCA is believed to have voted against fellow Jamaican Dave Cameron in his re-election bid for Cricket West Indies (CWI) president. The move was widely condemned in some quarters of Jamaica’s local cricket fraternity.
