Mark Neita batting doggedly to keep Melbourne afloat

January 22, 2020

While the stay at Melbourne was short-lived, Franklyn Dennis has lasting memories of his association with Jamaica’s third oldest cricket club.

Just hours before migrating to Canada in March 1972, he walked off the field unbeaten with Sam Morgan who scored a double hundred against Kensington.

“Jeremiah ‘Jerry’ Reid and Sam had put on nearly 300 for the opening wicket and after Jerry was dismissed for a century, Ruddy Williams -- who was the captain -- told me to hang around with Sam, who was in the 180s, and he would declare as soon as he got to 200,” recalled Dennis who played for Boys’ Town and was a member of Canada’s 1979 World Cup team. “I remember telling Sam ‘this is my last game and Ruddy said to stay with you until you get your second hundred’. By the time he reached the landmark, I was in the 40s.”

Franklyn Dennis

Dennis, who is in Cricket Canada’s Hall of Fame, returned to Melbourne in 1975 as a member of West Indian Cricket Club and visits the club whenever he’s in Jamaica.

“It’s always nice to go back there even though I was with the club for about five games,” he said. “That was one of my favourite grounds as the wickets were always well prepared. I scored quite a few centuries there.”

Melbourne – like many cricket clubs in the Caribbean – is struggling with dwindling membership and subsiding infrastructure.

“That troubles me,” said Dennis who recorded a game-high unbeaten 57 in Eastern Canada’s upset win over the touring Australian cricketers in 1975. “It really does.”

Last September while hosting the international media during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 leg in Jamaica, Melbourne President Mark Neita let out a loud shriek after the groundsman told him that the lawn mower, that had just been fixed for nearly Can$2,000, wasn’t working.

The crankcase breather, also known as the PVC valve, was broken.

“Where do I get the money to fix this problem?” asked Neita who played 45 first-class matches for Jamaica.

The Michael Holding pavilion at Melbourne

Foska Oats is the club’s biggest sponsor, providing Jam$1 million yearly and Pure Water supports the annual 5K walk/run.

“We have some advertising on the walls surrounding the ground and we get some help from the private sector, but the money isn’t enough,” Neita noted.

Three years ago, almost Jam$8 million was spent to rehabilitate the club.

With Jamaica experiencing a drought last year, there was a shortage of water which is used to maintain grounds and pitches.

“We had to buy water and 1,000 gallons cost almost Jam $10, 000,” said the former middle-order batsman who scored two centuries in the 1984 regional senior competition. “We use about four to five thousand gallons a week. There’s no water coming through our pipes right now. The only thing left for us to do is to install a well and that will cost about Jam$29 million.”

Neita and his executive are using social activities other than cricket to raise funds for the 128-year-old club.

“We are the only club that you can come to on Mondays and find the bar open at 4 p.m., there’s chicken on the grill and people are playing dominoes,” he said. “Friday night is curry goat and we get a big turnout with music playing. If I put on a cricket match to raise money, no one will come. Nobody comes here to watch cricket. If we get 10 spectators, that’s a good turnout. I can’t use cricket as a medium to raise funds. I am absolutely frustrated. ‘Me nah know’ what else to do.”

Mark Neita

To alleviate Melbourne’s financial burden, Neita hopes more former players will join the private sector to keep the club afloat.

“Most of the ex-players are no longer involved and that has hindered the club’s development,” he noted. “Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Robert Samuels, Nikita Miller and Oshane Thomas, who lived at this club for four years, give back when they can. But there are others who went on to play for the West Indies and haven’t done anything for us. This, however, is not a Melbourne issue. It’s happening at all the clubs. As a result, there are no role models for the youths to look up to.”

The paucity of role models may have led to the younger generation turning to players from other countries for inspiration.

Asked who is his favourite player, Kymani Wilson –  a Melbourne member for the last six years – unflinchingly pointed to Pakistan middle-order batsman Babar Azam as the player he admires the most because, ‘I love the way he cover drives’.

Kymani Wilson

Making his Senior Cup debut at age 15, the wicketkeeper/batsman spent three years at St. George’s College before securing a cricket scholarship to attend Excelsior where he graduated in 2018.

Not surprised by Wilson’s choice of the player he looks up to, Neita said most young players are not taking the time to learn about some of the personalities that have shaped the game in the region.

“Tony Becca (a leading sports journalist and longtime Melbourne member who died last year) used to come to the club on Fridays to eat curry goat and members of our Senior Cup team had no idea who he was,” he said. “When I mention a name like Desmond Haynes, they look at me with dismay as if to say, ‘Who are you talking about’? Most young people don’t read. If they are going to attempt to do so, pictures or videos must accompany the words and after two minutes, they move on. Sometimes, half of the team don’t turn up for a game on time and the response for the tardiness is usually, ‘we didn’t read what time the game was scheduled to start’.”

A member of the first West Indies team to tour Africa --Zimbabwe -- in 1981, Neita is an experienced financial services sector professional.

The Kingston College and Wolmer’s graduate completed his university education at Kennedy Western University and was a Unit Manager with Life of Jamaica for almost 13 years before joining the MONY Group International where he was the Managing Director for seven-and-half years.

Neita is the President of Mark Neita & Associates which is an independent financial service brokerage firm, and World Beaters Sports Management, Country Manager for Global Benefits Group, Director of Monilen Financial Services and the Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Insurance Brokers.

Though his plate is filled with a heavy workload, embracing Melbourne is obligatory for Neita who was a member of the West Indies youth team that faced England’s Young Cricketers in the Caribbean in 1980.

“I made no money from cricket when I played,” he said. “But because I played the sport in an exciting era, it opened doors for me that I couldn’t do on my own. I am very fortunate because of that and I feel it is incumbent for me to give back.”

Melbourne is one of Jamaica’s most successful clubs

Beyond his club, Neita is worried about the state of West Indies cricket.

Since the start of 2015, the Caribbean side has won just nine of 48 Tests and is ranked eighth in the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

He believes the lack of a long-term sustainability plan has contributed to the decline.

“When you look at players from England and Australia, the bowlers’ skills are obvious in that they can swing the ball conventionally or get reverse swing and they bowl a consistent line and length,” he pointed out. “We have very few bowlers in the West Indies that can do that. Just before a tour, players are rounded up for a short camp and that’s inadequate. You need someone to work with the young players and help them develop their skills. When you look at a player like Oshane Thomas, work needs to be done to help him advance and improve his fitness to withstand the rigours of Test cricket. You can teach someone to swing and spin the ball, but you can’t teach them how to bowl fast. There’s raw material to work with, but a collaborative effort is needed to get Thomas to the next level.”

Melbourne was founded in 1892 after Kingston and Kensington cricket clubs.