Former West Indies pacer Reon King is leading the charge for Caribbean bowlers to improve themselves in hope of capitalizing on ‘a lot of cricket’ that is available.
Stabroek Sport caught up with the 44-year-old International Cricket Council (ICC) Match Referee who terrorized opponents in his 19 Tests and 50 One Day Internationals for the West Indies between 1998 and 2005 and discussed the dynamics of being a bowler in this era.
“The advice I would give to young fast bowlers now is stick with the game, try to educate yourself on your art in terms of your fitness, to get strong, [and] improve on your skill work,” King opined
The former Guyana captain, who took 293 wickets in 95 First-Class matches, believes that a lot of cricket is now being played globally and therefore playing opportunities are more reachable. King posited that players should always keep themselves match ready in order to capitalize on those chances.
“There are a lot of opportunities now in West Indies Cricket. There is a lot of teams, a lot of cricket being played and a lot of teams being selected, A-team, CPL [Caribbean Premier League], T20 leagues all over the world, a whole lot of cricket, under-19 tours, you know stuff like that so it is a lot of cricket out there now and you should, as a bowler, as a cricketer, keep yourself ready in terms of being appropriately fit, improve on your skill level, take every practice seriously, educate yourself in terms of your strengths, your weaknesses, things like how to train, how to train at practice,” he stated.
The former Guyana Cricket Board Territorial Development officer pointed out that with the technology of the day, information has become easily accessible.
“There is a lot out there, utilize the coaches,” King urged, while adding, “Technology is another feature. It is a great advantage in this day and time that they could use. Use technology in terms of watching old videos of old players, coaching videos and stuff like that.”
The Level Three coach also suggested players reach out to former national players for advice and tips with the general idea of improving their game.
Only recently, Cricket West Indies’ Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams made it clear that the fitness standards implemented are non-negotiable.
