Bridgetown, Barbados: In a brief motivational address to the participants of the Digicel Cricket Clinics in Barbados, the world’s greatest all rounder, Sir Garfield Sobers, emphasized that practice must be viewed as a serious endeavour and not a necessary inconvenience.
“Practicing is very important, it is one of the most important things in cricket development and not just practicing but doing it the right way from a very young age,” Sir Garry told the youngsters prior to the start of the second day of the Digicel Cricket Clinics at the world renowned Kensington Oval.
“Some players practice to have fun and some players practice to be serious and improve their game, so I implore you to practice seriously and practice the right way and you will improve,” Sir Garry pleaded with the youngsters.
Sir Garry – who appeared in 93 Test matches scoring 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78 – also explained afterwards that the young Under 13 players must strive to retain the knowledge they acquire during the Digicel Cricket Clinics and not just let it go to waste.
“I am also telling them to retain the things the coaches tell them and that the coaches that are teaching them haven’t come to tell them things that are wrong, they are giving them the right ideas and information and these are players who have played successfully at the highest level,” Sir Garry lamented.
“If they try and do some of the things they have been told, I’m sure that these youngsters will improve their cricket,” Sir Garry asserted.
And the still sprightly 73 year old who bagged 235 Test wickets also said he was encouraged by the sponsorship of the Clinics by Digicel.
“As a boy growing up we never had this kind of opportunity. We never had sponsors like Digicel who brought youngsters of this age group together and brought in experienced coaches like Keith Arthurton,” Sir Garry recalled.
“This is a wonderful initiative. What Digicel is doing for cricket in the Caribbean is tremendous. And this is not something that only started this year, I remember doing Clinics like these two years ago,” Sir Garry remembered, while noting that continuity on an annual basis is necessary.
“When you have Clinics like these there must be some sort of continuity and you must be able to select players at every camp so that you can say to the Barbados Cricket Association, or whoever is responsible, that these are the players you should keep looking at and make sure that they get the proper training and practice,” Sir Garry advised.
The Digicel Cricket Clinics will conclude today at the Kensington Oval before the final round in Turks and Caicos starting on Thursday. In Barbados Head Coach, Keith Arthurton is being assisted by West Indies players Ramnaresh Sarwan and Denesh Ramdin, along with former West Indies all rounder and Barbados national coach Vasbert Drakes.
