Tony Becca, Contributor

The minutes are ticking by, 2006 is fast receding into history, and as it does so, memories of the year keep flashing before my eyes.

Unfortunately, as far as cricket is concerned, as a Jamaican, the memories are best forgotten. But for fast bowler Jerome Taylor's improvement during the year, but for Christopher Gayle's exciting batting at times, but for Marlon Samuels one flash of brilliance in a one-day match, and but for the winning performance by the Under 15s, the images are all disappointing.

Worst than windies

Jamaica's record throughout the year was worse than the West Indies. Unlike the West Indies who, thanks to Taylor and Gayle among a few others, were brilliant some times and disappointing most times, Jamaica, almost at every level and but for these three individuals, were disappointing most times.

In a wonderful performance, Jamaica, led by Andre Creary, coached by Andre Coley, and managed by Robert Lewis, won the Under-15 title by winning four of the five matches with one rained out.

After promising so much at the start of both competitions, however, Jamaica, captained by Jaime Trenchfield before he gave up the job, coached by Robert Samuels and managed by Fitz Harris, finished at the bottom of the standings in the regional Under-19 competition, and, led first by Tamar Lambert and then by Wavell Hinds, coached by Robert Haynes and managed by Maurice Clarke, Jamaica, after winning it the previous year, ended up dead last in the regional four-day competition.

One-day tournament

Fortunately for Jamaica, who finished fifth out of six teams in both 2004 and 2005, there was no one-day tournament this year.

While Jamaica's performance in the Under-19 competition can possibly be explained due to the fact that it is an age group competition and performances usually vary from year to year, it is difficult, up to now, to understand what happened to Jamaica after their commanding performance last year - and especially so as they had the same players on show from last year.

On top of that, 12 members of the squad, Gayle, Samuels, Hinds and Taylor, plus Xavier Marshall, Donovan Pagon, David Bernard Jnr., Gareth Breese, Carlton Baugh Jnr., Jermaine Lawson, Daren Powell, and Dwight Washington had all represented the West Indies, with another one, Nikita Miller, the left-arm spin bowler who took the most wickets last year, representing the West Indies "A" team.

From all reports, it seemed that there was no team spirit, there were rumours of a near mutiny in the team, and the fact that coach Haynes resigned immediately afterwards, that manager Clarke resigned almost immediately afterwards, and that the cricket board held an enquiry into the team's performance suggested that things really were not right with the team.

So does the cricket board in this country operates, however, that the findings of that enquiry remain a secret up to today.

No one knows

No one, therefore, knows what caused a Jamaica team, so strong on paper, a Jamaica team which totalled 95 points, including seven victories, from 10 matches last year, a Jamaica team whose batsmen scored nine centuries and 22 fifties, a Jamaica team which saw six bowlers taking between 18 and 39 wickets, a Jamaica team which saw Pagon scoring 658 runs and Baugh 589 to drop so low that it scored only 12 points from five matches this year, that it did not score a single century and only eight fifties, that the most runs scored were 234, 232 and 229 by Baugh, Hinds and Samuels, that not one batsman averaged over 40, and that only Breese, with 20 wickets, did anything worthwhile as a bowler.

With the exception of Marshall, who is out of favour, and correctly so, with the selectors, and Breese, who has for whatever reason made him himself unavailable but who, for whatever reason, would probably not have been included in the final 11, the Jamaica team, but for the inclusion of left-arm wrist spinner Andre Dwyer, will be the same, as far as the players are concerned, for next year's competitions starting next weekend.

As far as representing Jamaica is concerned, however, as far as giving their best for Jamaica, hopefully it will be different from what it was this year. Hopefully it will be more like it was last year - and definitely so in the Carib Beer Cup.