Former Barbados player and Cricket West Indies level three high performance coach Shirley Clarke had nothing but praise for the skills and talent shown by players during the first two rounds of the Regional Four-Day West Indies First Class Cricket Championship.
Clarke said the competition thus far has showcased a few talented players whose skillset has great potential which can leverage for the future of the West Indies. He also commented on the cricket pitches and facilities which he described as being of a very high standard and was also pleased with the COVID-19 monitoring and protocols that were policed.
Clarke who has taken over as coach of the Windward Islands Volcanoes, did not have the best of starts in the tournament, given they lost both their opening matches to Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago respectively. However, as coach, he is not counting out the Windward Islands Volcanoes just yet and he is confident the team will bounce back from their two opening defeats when the second-round resumes in May.
“It was very heartbreaking for the guys after the first game showing so much fight and character to lose in that manner. I don’t think the guys completely dealt with that situation well and that somehow affected us psychologically going into the second game.
“With such a quick turnaround especially the series being brought up a day early, we batted poorly in the first innings against Trinidad and we had to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. However, I found that there were too many results that went against us in both games and this contributed to our overall performance,” he said.
Clarke added: “Being outplayed is not an issue if it happens because you can always pick up the pieces and move forward. But when other forces intervene it makes it doubly hard to do that.”
Clarke told Barbados TODAY there was need for some improvements and it was his intention to build a philosophy in which the team can buy into together.
“We need to improve in the area of our batting, the top order especially needs to come to the party and give us some big runs and our bowlers need to be more disciplined and consistent with their lines and length. It is still a work in progress and I think that progress is coming along well. Going into any new environment you must first understand the culture and then there is a matter of building players to coach relationships so that trust doesn’t become an issue. Once that happens it makes it easier for clubs to buy into my philosophy,” Clarke explained.
According to Clarke who is contracted for a year, the Volcanoes team is a balanced one and each player has a role to play. “I believe that we have a balanced team, every player is important to the team and each player has a role to perform. Once the players can execute their roles individually then the overall performance of the team will improve.”
Possessing a good record as a coach with Carlton Cricket Club in Barbados, Clarke who was seconded for a year by his workplace the National Sports Council, stated that success is not guaranteed and therefore the Volcanoes under his watch will work hard towards achieving success.
“My short-term goal for the Windward Islands Volcanoes is to help each player improve individually and for the team to become more competitive as a team going into tournaments. Success is not guaranteed but we will work hard as we can to be successful for the rest of the tournament. Sports has been on hold because of the pandemic and it is good to see that cricket has restarted, the players are all willing and anxious to go out there and showcase their skills. I have no doubt that the commitment that I saw from all the teams playing so far, that the standard of play will improve as the tournament goes along,” he expressed.
There are some positives coming out of the tournament and Clarke highlighted a few. “Some of the positives that we can take away from the game, our lower order performed well with the bat especially Preston McSween, Shermon Lewis in a last wicket record partnership versus Guyana. Alick Athanaze recorded two half centuries and then we had Lewis and Kenneth Dember five wicket hauls with Dember picking up nine wickets during the Guyana game and Shermon five wickets against Trinidad,” he said.
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