BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – Former Young Barbados captain Calvin Hope has stepped forward to challenge West Indies fast bowling legend Joel Garner for the post of president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA). The 54-year-old Hope, an attorney-at-law, whose formative years were spent in tourism marketing before a career change, said he wanted to chart a pathway to restoring pride and excellence in the game in the island.

“Our cricket has been waning,” Hope told the Sunday Sun newspaper. “There has been a decline in the standard, locally and regionally.

“There has been a lack of modern thinking among the leaders to arrest the decline, and restore the excellence in cricket.”

He added: “I have observed a need to move our cricket to a new level, to bring the game back to the centre of national consciousness, and awaken the sleeping giant that is cricket.”

Hope said his plans for the game and the BCA included establishing a professional league, reorganising the corporate office, producing a strategic plan to reposition Barbados’ cricket as a global brand, and a review of the current agreement with the Government over the use of Kensington Oval.

“You are building on what you have already,” he said. “Barbados has one of the best infrastructures for cricket worldwide on amateur basis.

“The focus has to be on the overall game, and every stakeholder must be energised to rekindle the spirit of promoting cricket as a national expression of excellence.”

Hope has served on a number of committees of the BCA, including a period between 1998 and 2005 when he was able to generate between US $600,000 and US $750,000 annually as head of the marketing committee.

BCA members will vote for the post of president and other members of the board of management at a special general meeting on Thursday.