The Brathwaites – Kraigg and Carlos – have been identified by Sarwan as bright prospects for the future
– “We have the talent…no doubt about it”
By Akeem Greene
Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan believes the region has the requisite talent pool to help stem the decline of West Indies cricket, but highlighted that there needs to be a proper structure to harness the talents.
“We have talent, no doubt about it. When you look at Carlos Braithwaite, Jason Holder, and young Kraigg Braithwaite, there is talent but it is not a matter of talent, but it’s having the right structure in place where you could groom the persons to come through,” Sarwan told this publication.
West Indies are currently ranked eighth on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test table, ninth in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and second in Twenty20 Internationals.
Based on performances, especially those in the longer formats, there has undoubtedly been a horrific decline and Sarwan believes that investing in youth and facilities is vital to a turnaround in fortunes.
Ramnaresh Sarwan
“What are we going to do with the Under-15s and the Under-19s after they finish playing that age group? Are you just going to throw them into first class cricket?” the 35-year-old queried.
He added, “Obviously not all of them would be able to make the West Indies team, but you would hope everyone would be able to compete at a high standard and the only way you can allow that to occur you have to put facilities in place to help them develop.”
In the past, pundits of the sport alluded to the fact that current stars like Virat Kholi, Kane Williamson and Joe Root, all played age group cricket with players like Denesh Ramdin and Assad Fudadin, but the foreign players have significantly improved their level of play, as compared to the West Indians.
Sarwan, who averages over 40 in both the 181 ODIs and 87 Test matches he has played, gave the example of Root’s improvement.
“When I went England for my county stint I was able to meet Joe Root, who was at that time 20 or 21… and you could recognise talent, but if you heard the amount of work and preparation he had to go throw to meet to that stage,” Sarwan revealed.
The elegant middle-order batsman went on to state that “it’s a phase you have to go through to develop your players because natural talent will not always do it.”
A High Performance Centre was instituted in 2010 at the UWI Campus, Cave Hill, Barbados, and it was a glorious initiative as players 23 years and under were put through an intensive training regimen.
Last year, it was reported that emphasis will shift from the Barbados-based High Performance Centre (HPC) and onto the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Professional Cricket League (PCL) for the development of regional players.
The HPC had served the region well in producing a number of well-established Test players; however, it would no longer function as it did by enrolling a set of players on a year-round basis.
Rather, the HPC will now serve to provide the “finishing touches to elite players” coming out of the regional competitions.
When quizzed on the lack of facilities in the region, Sarwan said, “We don’t even have a proper academy in the Caribbean; we have got something in Barbados which was able to produce young [Jason] Holder and a couple other players, but we need facilities throughout the Caribbean because not everyone will be able to go to Barbados so you have to put in every single country.”
Simmons key
In March 2015, Trinidadian and former coach of Ireland, Phil Simmons, was appointed Head Coach of the West Indies.
However, in September of the same year, he was suspended from duty when he voice concerns over the selection process concerning some of the senior players.
Speaking about the impact the coach has had on the team, Sarwan said, “I have known Mr Simmons for a very long time, he is one of the most genuine persons and I can assure you, he has West Indies cricket at heart; I know he has been given quite a hard time and also he faces a lot of criticisms, not so much from the public, but internally.”
He further stated, “Simmons has West Indies cricket at heart and I know once he gets the support he is going to try and transform it just like he did with Ireland.” ([email protected])
