JCA president Paul Campbell. File

If Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) boss Paul Campbell has his way, next year could see the start of a national female cricket competition, as the organisation looks to build on the success of the island's young female cricketers and continue the sport's development.

The move, besides being geared towards the growth of women's cricket, is also being pursued as a strategic tool in the association's push to attract more women spectators to the game.

improving the sport

Paul Campbell confirmed the developments and pointed out that the country can be proud of the steps being taken with regards to improving the sport among female players.

He went on to point out that his administration is currently in search of corporate support for the programme and that they are at this point finalising plans for the competition.

Campbell said, "What you will see for the coming season is a domestic competition for women and we will continue to seek sponsorship for that programme. We have decided that it (women's competition) will be on, (but) we haven't decided if its going to be six or eight teams competing. Currently, the cricket operations and technical departments are fine-tuning that part but it will be a reality in 2010."

"It's interesting to note that Jamaica is the first of the territories to have integrated women's cricket into its programme. To date, they are still struggling to do that in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados has not done that yet also so in truth we are the leaders and we will continue to move forward in terms of our development programmes at all levels of the sport," Campbell beamed."

Jamaica's female cricketers have been placed into sharp focus after the exploits of 18-year-old Stafanie Taylor, West Indies all-rounder who became the first female to be named JCA Cricketer of the Year after she cracked the world top ten rankings at number nine and number five as an all-rounder.

team's success

This also comes on the heels of the national Under-19 female team's success at the regional championship earlier this season.

Campbell underlined the importance of developing the female cricket movement and creating a national competition as a platform for female players to showcase their talents and improve their game.

Said Campbell, "It is very important to us, right now we do not have a domestic competition so if you are going to grow that aspect of cricket then you need some kind of competitive arena where people can apply their trade and show off their skill."

At present, there are approximately five local clubs which facilitate female players.