He might have been one of the top West Indies batsmen in his heyday but former West Indies cricket captain Alvin Isaac Kallicharran is batting for the fast bowlers in Guyana.
According to the former Berbice and Guyana batting maestro, he is disappointed with the state of fast bowling in Guyana.
Kallicharran has been contracted by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to work with the U15 and U17 cricketers in the country ahead of the upcoming regional tournaments.
His stints will see him travelling around the country as part of the GCB’s strategic plan to not only excel at those tournaments but also to lift the standard of cricket in the country.
“So far I’ve visited several grounds in Berbice and Demerara and I am very disappointed with what I’ve seen in the fast bowling department.
“It is only because the wickets are very slow now and not very encouraging to produce fast bowlers that there’s such a small presence of quality pacers,” Kallicharran said yesterday.
The diminutive Kallicharran will be remembered for his assault on the feared former Australia fast bowling menace Dennis Lillee during the 1975 World Cup competition.
Kallicharran said one of the reasons for the dearth of young fast bowlers was the pitches.
“The wickets are dead, so spinners are playing a bigger part and as much as the wickets here are slow, the pacers must have more opportunities to bowl in the games. There are even cases where they are not being played or even when played not being able to bowl their full quota of overs,” said the former West Indies middle-order batsman who played 66 test matches and 31 one day internationals for the West Indies.
Kallicharran, who scored 4399 test runs at an average of 44.43 visited the Enmore Community Development ground yesterday afternoon following on the heels of a morning training session at the Enterprise Community Development Centre.
According to the cricket icon, Guyana is by no means short of cricketers, but the country is lacking the facilities that can see quality cricketers being produced.
The 66-year-old emphasized the need of the grassroots programme to assist with the development of Guyana’s cricket.
According to `Kalli,’ as he is popularly known, in his time it was estate cricket and any other form of cricket as a youth was welcomed. He is optimistic that this initiative by the GCB to have him involved in its coaching programme will benefit the young prospects as they are being nurtured from one stage to the other.
According to Kallicharran, he has already spotted numerous talented cricketers during the programmes so far.
He also said that the coaches he has worked with so far are very receptive and are willing to learn and share their expertise.
Kallicharran said he believes the GCB is heading in the right direction with the initiative. The GCB is also utilizing the former international star as a motivational speaker at the current Inter-County Youth tournament. He will continue his programme for several more days throughout the country.
