Stabroek News Harper pleased with turnout

Showing the youngsters how it is done! Roger Harper demonstrates to the young spinners the art of spin bowling. (Orlando Charles photo)

-but expects more participants today at GCA one-week youth camp
At the opening yesterday of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) one-week youth camp, GCA president and coordinator Roger Harper said he was pleased with the turnout but that he is expecting more participants at the Everest Cricket Club (ECC) Ground today. Seventeen young cricketers turned up yesterday for the under-15 and the under-19 ranks and Harper said that many of the cricketers realised that there was a lot to be learnt about the fundamentals of the game after yesterday’s first session. He also noted that the charges showed great enthusiasm when the exercise was being conducted.

20100720harper — Showing the youngsters how it is done! Roger Harper demonstrates to the young spinners the art of spin bowling. (Orlando Charles photo)

“The whole idea is to improve the skill level of the players and to get them to understand the fundamentals of the game. Once a player understands the basics of the game and appreciates the importance of doing them well then they will have a good opportunity to play the game well,” Harper explained. The former West Indies coach said that the players are coming from the GCA affiliate clubs and have shown a willingness to listen and learn and that will serve them well in the future since there is a focus on tactical and technical skills at the camp, which will end on Friday.

Further, the camp will be teaching the youngsters social graces such as etiquette, “which will also help with the cricketers’ confidence.”

Harper also said that while the camp will be focusing mainly on the youth players it would have been good if the camp could have catered to the needs of players in the first division. He conceded though that all these wishes cannot be accommodated at this time but plans will be put in the pipeline.

At the moment Harper said that the GCA is looking to work with some of the better cricketers affiliated to the GCA. He said in the case of the weaker cricketers the GCA will be looking to work with coaches to structure programmes that they can use at the respective clubs since the GCA “doesn’t have the resources to reach everyone but we are going to try to see how far down the road we can get.”

The other coaches yesterday were former national players Mark Harper and Quason Nedd. Mark worked with the batsmen while Nedd conducted the warm-up and warm- down exercises.

Sessions for the under-15 cricketers commence at 09:00 hours and end at noon while the under-19 participants will get going from 13:00 hours until 16:00 hours each day.