KINGSTON, (CMC) – CEO of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Courtney Francis, bemoaned the weakness of the island’s domestic competitions and complacency from players for the poor showing of the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship that ended last month.

The Scorpions finished last with 25.6 points, which continued a downward trend for the side, after the Jamaican national team had dominated the tournament, winning five consecutive titles between 2008 and 2012.

“Our Senior Cup competition is not competitive enough,” he told SportsMax. “In the Senior Cup, when certain teams play against certain teams, you might get a competitive game, which is commendable, but there are a significant number of instances where games finish within a day and we’re not going anywhere with that. The transition from Senior Cup to first-class is not it.

“In my view, we need to have a tier higher than the Senior Cup. I’ve recommended that we have the best 60 players in the country playing a four-team competition. You can hold trials to see who can get up there.”

Francis added he also observed that players earning franchise contracts became complacent and their desire to work hard waned after being rewarded.

“Persons who are on contracts now seem to not want to work hard enough because the contract is set for one year,” he said.

“If you notice, we have 15 persons on contract, and of those 15 persons, maybe 40 per cent of them did not feature in the Super50 and/or the West Indies Championship. That is something for us to take a different look at.”

“We can understand that persons are contracted from July, so people may lose form and others come in for pay-for-play and stuff, but that percentage is too high. As selectors, coaches, and administrators, we have to come up with a different mechanism to ensure that we do not waste money.

Francis said poor techniques, the increasing number of T20 franchise tournaments, and international duties with West Indies also contributed to the lack of success for the Scorpions, the reigning West Indies Super50 champions.

“Aggression without proper selection and lack of a desire to bat long are two things that jumped out at me,” he said.

“The pride of playing for country, I am not seeing it. Even in dialogue with them, I don’t think they have an appreciation for what the sport has done for us as a people.”

He said: “A significant number of the players who played that tournament (Super50) were unavailable to play the four-day tournament. We had persons playing at the highest level or playing all over the world.

“The significant influx of white-ball cricket… If you notice, our players aren’t batting an extended number of overs. Some games are ending with a day to spare.”

Only two Scorpions batsmen scored more than 200 for the season in the West Indies Championship. They were spin-bowling all-rounder Abhijai Mansingh with 248 and opener Leroy Lugg with 217.