Cricket Development Officer (CDO) of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Reon King and his deputy are aiming for holistic development of the sport and an array of tools will be employed including video analysis.
This King says is particularly important if Guyana is to regain its place among the top cricket playing nations in the Caribbean.
Additionally, High Performance Analyst (HPA) Robin Singh, who will be working as King’s deputy, assured journalists that while development will be target-based rather than broad-based, it will be structured, methodical and scientific.
King and Singh are the newest additions to the GCB and particularly the Cricket Development Committee (CDC) of the GCB.
They shared their vision in the GCB boardroom on Regent Road yesterday during a press briefing to address the current state of the game in Guyana.
King, a former West Indies pacer, takes over the position of CDO from Colin Stuart, another former WI speedster who resigned the position earlier this year. Singh will be tasked with video analysis and statistics of players in Guyana.
“My vision is to move Guyana from where it is at the moment; we all know the state of Guyana’s cricket and certainly we are not happy and we are going to be addressing that and ways to develop cricket. We certainly would not forget about our future, the young talent and therefore it will be a holistic process we will be dealing with,” King, the 34-year-old WICB Level 2 coach explained.
King, who played 19 Test matches and 50 ODIs, said that he and his colleague also want to build a fan base since they are the persons who support the players and the game.
“We recognize that there is a lot of work to be done and certainly there will have to be appropriate systems that are put in place to make everything efficient,” the former Durham county player commented.
He said that while he and his colleagues realize that financing will be important they will be willing to work with what they have.
The first phase of the programme is expected to cost in the vicinity of $2 million and the focus will be on the senior national team that is currently encamped to prepare for the regional first class tournament in January 2010.
The other phase will encompass all other levels of cricket in the country.
King said that they will be seeking the assistance of the business community to realize the committee’s potential to help Guyana’s development and by extension West Indies cricket.
Portfolio
Meanwhile, Singh said that he was honoured to be appointed to the position and noted that it will give him an opportunity to work with Guyana’s cricket, especially since it has been suffering from serious whiplashes for the last four years.
He quipped that he was thankful it was two persons doing the job instead of one.
“When we looked at the portfolio we were given by the board, Mr. King and I sat down and outlined the areas we wanted to work on. We split the duties up and we actually made some progress in what we want to achieve,” the 2008 Trinidad & Tobago HPA revealed.
He mentioned that the committee has started a database project which encompasses all the clubs and players. He stated that the computer software will be equivalent to that used around the world, making specific reference to Cricket Australia.
“The complete picture of Guyana’s cricket will be available very soon and the Board will then be able to say definitively how many players we have in any one area so that they can have targeted development as opposed to broad-based development. We are looking to bring quality work instead of quantity.”
He continued, “For the national team we have embarked on a quality development programme and so it will be all the way through.”
President of the GCB Chetram Singh reported that the executives were satisfied with the two candidates when interviews were conducted and their selection for the jobs became automatic.
He said that the board was looking to inject fresh new perspectives from persons who have the interest of cricket development at the fore.
“We are (executives) hoping with these appointments and with their work we (Guyana) are going to have at least some improvement in the performance of our team and especially in the development of our younger players. Both are experienced persons in their fields,” Singh said.
He was also adamant that with the implementation of the video analysis Guyana’s batsmen and bowlers can improve their techniques. He also said that the development course for match referees, umpires and scorers will fall directly under the portfolio of the new office bearers.
Their programme will come under the GCB’s development committee which is headed by Bissoondial Singh, vice president and chairman of the CDC of the GCB.
