'A coach in the Caribbean must understand all facets of the game'
West Indies A coach Junior Bennett talks about mentoring a young Chris Gayle, and the challenges of training Caribbean cricketers at the grassroots level

"You have to be humble. You have to be a father figure" • WICB
It began with the school system back in Jamaica, where I coached the school, won a lot of trophies. By virtue of that I got into the Jamaica Under-19 set-up and coached them for 12 years. We have a vibrant schoolboy cricket system in Jamaica, where we have over a hundred high schools taking part in the competition. We have done extremely well in it. People would have seen my work.
You are going to have that. If you look at cricket around the world, people believe that you have to play Test cricket, or at least first-class cricket, to be a successful coach. You will have that level of resistance. But you have got to know what you want. Nobody is above criticism. You just have to take it. Know what you want and move on.
Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Nikita Miller, Brenton Parchment.
It was extremely difficult those days. Once you are from outside the city, in our time we didn't really get that opportunity. You had to leave your world and go to Kingston and play. The playing field is much more level now. Regardless of where you are from, you can make it to the national level.
I started at high school as a student. We were participating in the Headley Cup. Our coach there always gave the opportunity to students to help with practice in the evening. That's where my talent came through. I was the captain. I liked the responsibility of getting the guys together and starting the game. Started to do a few courses here and there. When I moved to St Elizabeth Technical High School*, Dr Donovan Bennett was instrumental. It took off from there.
You have to be humble. You have to be a father figure. Especially at school level. You have youngsters coming from different backgrounds. You have very, very poor youngsters. Some might not have a pair of shoes. You have to be out there and sometimes ask somebody to come and support this talented kid. You have to try and understand these youngsters, because they are from different backgrounds. You have to treat them with respect regardless of their background. End of the day, you want the most out of them. They must be comfortable and they must trust your judgement.
For example, you might have a school in town, and a student living 20-30 miles away, don't have enough to pay bus fares and all. It's better nowadays, because at least parents realise that sport can be a career. In those days people believed you just play a game. It is no longer just a game, it is an investment now.
You go right back to Dr Donovan Bennett. He was the one doing all of this. He managed the school team. His office was 30km from the school. Someone got injured, I took him there. He looked after the kid. Wrote a prescription. Gave me the money to fill his prescription. Then gave money to pay back his fare to school. You had people like those who volunteered their services. You look at it and you realise at some point you have to play that role.
Yes, it's more about techniques. From U-19 level and so on. In my case, I had been working with many of my U-19 and first-class cricketers from school level. Even if they were in opposition, I had seen their games, so the transition was much easier for me. I had seen Chris Gayle from the age of 13-14. If you have seen them from so young, it's much easier to deal with them. You understand everything about them.
Early out. I remember we were playing an U-19 tournament in Trinidad. After our training session, Chris and me sat down to talk. Chris said, "Coachman, I have 35 centuries now." He started from elementary school, primary school, everything. Backyard cricket. He count it. He turn to me and say, "Every level of cricket I play, I score a hundred." When he scored that first international T20 hundred, at the time I thought it was almost impossible. When he scored it, he told me, "I told you. Every level."
Yes, you have to. Jamaica, for example, is a third-world country. Equipment and all those sort of things are not at your disposal. You don't have two or three coaches. An U-19 team has one coach. You have to do everything. Those days are long days, but those guys love cricket. At the youth level, that's where the bulk of work took place.
They are both different individuals. Chris has always been an aggressive player. As a coach, I always believed in working on their strength - don't try to curb him. Anyone looks at Chris now, you can say, all the coaches that worked on him did a good thing by letting him be.
"Anyone looks at Chris Gayle now, you can say, all the coaches that worked on him did a good thing by letting him be"
Yes. For example, Chris, you might see him bulldozing balls, but what I cannot forget is one particular shot: where the ball is just short of a length and he goes back and punches it down the road. Now the same ball disappears over midwicket for a six. I remember when last year he played one of those shots, he turned to me and said, "I still have it, coach." Most people would turn up just to see him play that shot. That was his trademark shot, but I understand the reason now with T20 cricket and so on. He is conscious of the fact that he has stopped playing that shot.
It was good. But the way I see life is, if I play a tournament now, I evaluate it, and I tend to move on immediately. Start planning for the next competition. I believe that's part of the reason why I am able to repeat championship wins.
The last one, to make it five in a row was special. We had lost the first innings in that game against Barbados. And we had lost some time due to rain. I remember this Sunday evening, the third day of the game, at tea time, we were having a discussion, we worked out a situation. If we could be 95 this evening, score some quick runs tomorrow, set them 230 or something and see where we can go. We scored 120 in the evening. Came back next day, pushed on, declared two or three overs earlier, and bowled out Barbados. It was a bit special.
I always believe that it is much easier at a senior level. At school, you have to do almost everything. At senior level, you have a physio, trainer, manager. At school, if someone gets injured, you have to find that physio. It is more difficult at the grassroots level.
Yes. There are egos. And they are looking to move on to a higher level. As a coach you have to just create a level playing field. You should be impartial. I make it clear quite early, you move based on your performances. I always believe you can't scheme your way through life. You want to perform and move on.
You have to be a balanced coach in the Caribbean. You are not going to get a fielding coach, you are not going to get a batting coach. You have to understand all the rudiments of the game, all facets of the game. You are not going to get the luxury of doing one thing alone.
From early out, you practise everything. I am a right-hander, for example. But I can use the left hand to bowl the orthodox offbreak. I can use the left hand to bowl the back-of-the-hand chinaman. You just practise those things for the purpose of coaching. I am a wristspinner, but if a youngster is a chinaman bowler, I need to demonstrate it. Some of the guys are amazed by what all I can do. In the Caribbean you can't just come and say, I am a fast-bowling coach.
It came as a surprise to me. I was in Kingston working with the U-16 players. I had just signed on as assistant coach for Tallawahs. Two days later I got this email from the West Indies board.
It didn't come easy. In that five-year period, we won two one-day titles too, which is important in the Caribbean. But when it comes, you look at it - I mean, when it rains, it pours. I had just signed with Tallawahs.
It is just a reunion. When I was coaching Jamaica U-19, most of these guys were playing U-19 for their teams. In the Caribbean, we play all the U-19 matches in one territory. So all the teams are in the same territory. And three-four of them in the same hotel. These guys, I know them from over the years. I understand them and their game well.
That is the writer's view. I also believe no one can scheme their way through life. I believe if you work hard, and you are supposed to move on, it is supposed to be done in a way where it is justice. I feel I should move on based on my work. I don't want anyone to scam through life. I want to move on based on my work and not other things. If it is a case where I have to hang out with certain people, I won't do it.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo