West Indies: Back to school -G Wattley (11 Sep 1997)

Thursday, September 11, 1997

West Indies: Back to school

By GARTH WATTLEY

THEIR TOUR of Pakistan and Sharjah is still over a month away, but the West Indies cricket team will be going back to school this weekend-and in Trinidad. All of the 15-member squad that will head east from October 28, plus West Indies "A" team skipper Jimmy Adams, will be assembling in the country shortly for a five-day retreat.

However, this group could exclude Brian Lara, who is scheduled to compete in a golf tournament in Jamaica. And while actual cricket business, the practical stuff will not be the focus of the five-day session, the region's elite are being prepared for Pakistan and beyond.

"It's a whole process to assist with the personal development, quite apart from technical development and skills," Alloy Lequay head of the West Indies Cricket Board's Human Resource Development Committee told the Express yesterday.

The programme is not exactly the first of its kind, the Development Committee having already organised a limited programme for the seniors which was administered by Roytec in 1995.

Subsequently, programmes have been done in St Lucia for the West Indies Under-15 team in St Lucia after the Carib Cement Tournament and for the recently selected 1997 WI Under-19 World Youth Cup. However, Lequay said it was the first time the "intense five-day personal development retreat," had been done for the entire senior squad.

"We are doing it as an annual exercise," he added, "It's falling in place because all of the players are available. But," Lequay stressed, "this is not taking the place of a (cricket) camp." The Development Committee is planning similar programmes for coaches and umpires.

But this programme for the cricketers will actually be run from September 16-20, and has been designed by the Institute of Business, a subsidiary of the University of the West Indies. It will include a series of topics: Increasing self-awareness, Appreciating self and others, Managing inter-personal relationships, Managing stress on and off the field, Physical relaxation measures, Goal-setting, Time management (life after cricket) and Investing in your future.

Commenting on the programme, the Development Committee head said, "It is extremely important. Previously we concentrated on the technical affairs.

"Now we are looking at the person as a total human being. This is letting him appreciate when he is playing, there is more than the field of play."

Lequay also made the point that this latest effort by the WICB should help the players, "have a better appreciation of what the West Indies Board is and what it is trying to do for them. It should motivate them to a higher level of performance."

Lequay also saw the training as presenting the participants with an opportunity to become, "better ambassadors". In connection with this, Lequay also noted that there will be discussion on public relations-media relations" being the umbrella under which this comes.

"How do you respond to interviews," Lequay continued. "Some people, you put a microphone in front of them and they have difficulty speaking." The sessions will be closed door ones. But at the end of the programme, the media will be invited to the closing.

Following are the players expected to attend the retreat: Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Stuart Williams, Shivnarine Chander-paul, Sherwin Campbell, Philo Wallace, Roland Holder, David Williams, Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop, Rawl Lewis, Franklyn Rose, Mervyn Dillon, Philip Simmons, Jimmy Adams.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)