By Neil Barry
Practice makes perfect is a popular saying. However, the Harper brothers Mark and Roger stress that perfect practice makes perfect.
This was the theme underlying the recent Georgetown Cricket Association’s (GCA) skills clinic conducted by the Harper brothers with assistance from Quason Nedd.
The GCA special skills camp for cricketers in the city, was organized to improve the technical aspects of the game for fast bowlers, spinners, batsmen and wicket-keepers.
Apart from the wicket keeping session, each skill was allotted a follow up session to reinforce basic drills in an effort to make the participants technically sound. Those who attended benefited in part from the knowledge and wealth of experience of the renowned brothers Mark, who coached the Bermuda national team and Roger, a former West Indies senior team coach.
Former national Under 19 player turned coach Nedd assisted in carrying out the sessions and said he was pleased with the healthy turn out of players.
The clinics featured three-hour sessions for each skill, where special attention was placed on repetition as the coaches patiently observed and corrected flaws in strokeplay, delivery stride, follow throughs and grips et al.
It was noted that the clinics attracted a mixture of fairly new cricketers and comprised a majority of players eligible for under 19 cricket.
The clinics were open to club cricketers in Georgetown but, despite the absence of many senior players, the GCA was able to reach its priority target sector, the youth, which should augur well for the upcoming generations of Georgetown cricketers.
The clinics also afforded players the opportunity to benefit from interactive coaching and one-on-one attention from the coaches to help identify and correct flaws and strengthen the already strong aspects of their game.
The clinics were conducted with the usual level of discipline the Harper brothers have become known for since the GCA recognizes discipline as a key trait in not only producing better players but better citizens as well.
Nedd affirmed that there would be more skills clinics and lauded the success of this one pointing out that new talent was unearthed.
Chairman of the Competitions Committee of the GCA, Shawn Massiah, expressed disappointment in the absence of a larger number of senior players but said he was pleased with the turn out of youths as well.
Post-sessions, the coaches entertained questions from the participants and demonstrated proper warm down routines to add to their knowledge on the importance of both warming up and down. It is hoped that with kinder weather and more sponsorship even more follow up clinics can be held so that the coaches can make proper assessments of the progress of the participants.
