(Trinidad Guardian) Former manager of the West Indies cricket team Omar Khan says the time has come for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to have a full time sports psychologist attached to the team. Khan made his comment after witnessing the opening Test against England that ended in a five-wicket defeat for the visitors on Monday. Khan noted that every professional sports team in the world now has a psychologist. “Members of the West Indies Cricket Board just have to look at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and they will notice that every one of the nine teams has a psychologist.” Khan said in his time as manager of the West Indies team, he doubled his duties, by having to deal with mental work which really was not his forte.
“Cricket these days has so many dimensions that you need to have a sports psychologist throughout. We have so much natural talent but the board has to understand that this alone cannot win matches in these times. “The world is moving ahead with specialists for specialist positions and we need to take heed of what is happening around us.” Khan said a psychologist will go a long way in helping the players get the best out of their natural talent. “When you marry that talent with mental toughness, you will get excellent players, leading to excellent results.” Khan noted the numerous occasions on which the West Indies put themselves in positions of strength, only to waste such dominance. “It has to be a mental problem, not cricketing, because our players are no less talented than the others on the world scene.” He said all the current test playing teams have psychologists and reminded that the best era for the Caribbean in the sport was accompanied by the presence of Dr Rudi Webster, a performance enhancer.
Dr Webster was credited with assisting with the success of West Indies team which dominated the game in the late 70s and early 80s. He was a permanent member of the all conquering Clive Lloyd team. He was used last year by the West Indies during the home series against India. In response to Omar Khan’s call, communications manager at the WICB, Imran Khan said the board has taken a decision to use a psychologist on a need to basis. “There isn’t any psychologist attached to the team in England. From time to time as the board sees fit, certain psychologists are brought in to deal with the players. “They have used Dr Rudi Webster, John Holder, David Scott and Simon Grayson who is attached to the Sagicor High Performance Centre in Barbados.”
