ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Kieran Powell and Brandon Bess have hailed the time they spent at the West Indies High Performance Centre.
Powell and Bess were two of the first batch of students at the HPC, which is located on the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados.
The 20-year-old Powell credited the HPC with helping him develop his game that would allow him to play long innings, which had been a challenge for him previously in first-class matches.
This helped him to stroke his maiden first-class century of 131 for Leeward Islands against England Lions at Warner Park in St. Kitts in the opening round of the WICB Regional first-class championship.
“At the HPC, I did a lot of fitness work to ensure I can endure through a long innings, we do lots of fitness drills, and then we have specific one-on-one drills to work on batting,” said the left-handed batsman.
“I have done a lot of work on my batting at the HPC, especially to the spinners. I am trying to improve in that department.
“Losing Runako Morton (who now plays for Trinidad & Tobago) has been a big blow for us, and I felt that it would be upon me this season to bat through the innings, so I was looking to bat as long as possible.”
The 23-year-old Bess played one Test for West Indies last year against South Africa, but the fast bowler noted that he overcame problems with his fitness, and his technique at the HPC. As a result, Bess captured five wickets for 28 runs from 14 overs to help Guyana gain first innings points in their opening match of the regional first-class competition.
“The HPC contributed a lot to my fitness and also to my bowling,” he said. “I was having problems with my run-up and my delivery stride, and they are better now because of the work I did at the HPC.
“The HPC has done a lot for me. I improved, especially in my fitness, and now I am where I want to be. I am also bowling the way I want to bowl. I have done a lot of work on my bowling, especially on technique and all of that is coming into play, and that made me successful with the five-wicket haul.”
He said: “The HPC is about hard work and overall it is beneficial to West Indies cricket, because you learn a lot.”
The HPC is a collaboration between the West Indies Cricket Board and UWI to create well-rounded, multi-skilled, and thinking cricketers. It offers group and one-to-one support in technical, physical, psychological, tactical, and lifestyle areas of the game.
