- need for more coaches, Development Officer says

By Ravendra Kishore

Territorial Development Offi-cer of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Colin Stuart says that there are many talented youngsters around who are rough diamonds in need of polishing.

And this, he said was exactly what the GCB intends to do for the future of cricket both locally and

Colin Stuart

internationally – polish the diamonds in the rough.

In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, Stuart, a former West Indies fast bowler, said that the board invited all primary and secondary schoolboys to take part in their Cricket Summer Programme currently ongoing countrywide.

He added that the board was now using a format established by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) wh-ereby zones are allotted to different areas such as North, South and East Georgetown, East and West Coast of Demerara, East and West Bank of Demerara, etc.

Stuart said that the clinics started with Upper Demerara and at present the clinic was at Wales.

The participants, he said, have been divided into two groups. The under-13s he said go through their paces from 8.30am to noon while the under-15s are in action from 1-5pm.

The players are taken through the technical aspects of batting, bowling and fielding (throwing) and the importance of physical as well as mental fitness.

The whole aim, Stuart noted, was to get the players acclimatized in the recommended way to bat, bowl and field, notwithstanding that they may have already adopted their own style.

This, he said, was intended to avoid changing their action when they would have reached the under-19 and senior level.

While the present countrywide clinics are being funded by the GCB, Stuart is hopeful that Scotiabank which normally does the sponsorship of “Kiddies Cricket” will be back on board soon.

One other problem that is affecting the programme, according to Stuart, is the need for more coaches to prepare the youngsters.

When it comes to the under-15 players the GCB wants to have them prepared for the inter-school competition that is expected to start in September 2008 and this will be used to select the national under–15 squad. Stuart said he hopes the training will improve performance and consistency of the players.