Two of Trinidad and Tobago’s brightest cricket prospects have had a cloud of suspicion lifted from their young careers after undergoing a series of tests on their bowling action at the West Indies Cricket Board’s High Performance Centre in Barbados.
And according to Kumar Rampath, Territorial Development Officer of the WICB, Kevon Cooper of T&TEC and Sunil Narine of Queen’s Park have been cleared to play for their respective Premier League clubs but have been advised not to bowl while they complete remedial work on their bowling actions under the supervision of their club coaches.
Both Cooper, a penetrative fast bowler, and Narine, a spinner, were reported for suspect bowling actions during the Caribbean T20 Championships last January in Antigua/Barbuda and Barbados. T&T cricketers won the tournament but a shadow was cast on both players when the news was later made public.
However Rampath said the nature of the problem in the bowling actions of both Cooper and Narine was not career threatening and a series of drills were prescribed for the bowlers who are expected to be closely monitored to assess their progress.
Rampath said the initial phase of the remedial work for Cooper will be done under the supervision of Junior Joseph at T&TEC.
Narine, who has also been selected by the T&T team, will work with the experienced Parkites coach David Furlonge to iron out the kinks in his action before he can be considered to bowl again in the domestic league.
Rampath said both bowlers who are seen as future West Indies players because of their huge potential visited the HPC on April 4 and 5 (Narine) and April 6 and 7 (Cooper) where careful and detailed analyses were done.
The bowlers were subject to video tape analyses when they were filmed from different angles including front, side and back and were examined bowling their stock deliveries by a team of qualified coaches including Andre Cooley of Jamaica; Tony Radford of England; and Simon Graham, a sports psychologist.
Rampath said he was present at the sessions with the officials who are all associated with the HPC in Barbados to observe in his capacity as Territorial Development Officer and to assist if called upon.
He said following the tests a meeting was subsequently held with the players and coaches along with T&T national team coach Kelvin Williams and Clem Hercules.
Rampath said the players and the coaches agreed with the summation of the test results and pledged to work to implement the recommendations in an effort to correct the flaws in their actions so they can resume their careers at the national and regional levels.
In related news Rampath was scheduled to leave for Dubai on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates to participate in an international coaching course under the auspices of the International Cricket Council. The course runs for two weeks and has attracted top coaches from all around the world.
