West Indies: G Wattley - TTCBC rattles up a $m (16 Sep 1997)

Tuesday, September 16, 1997

TTCBC rattles up a $m

By GARTH WATTLEY

WITH property in hand and savings put aside, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control enter its 1997/98 financial year $TT 1 million to the good.

The healthy figure represents the TTCBC's current net assets and was revealed at the last meeting of the board's officers. Also disclosed was a proposal to hire a West Indian coach to work with local batsmen.

According to the board's chief executive officer, Alloy Lequay, the financial position was achieved despite the $75,000 loss the TTCBC suffered during the 1997 Red Stripe Cup season. That figure is about $25,000 less than the local board had anticipated losing after it hosted five matches under the ten-match, two round format.

The TTCBC's million-dollar status came as no surprise to Lequay. "When the board's assets were worth $700,000 I expected that by the end of this period (July 1997) that we would have been worth a $1million and we have achieved that," the TTCBC president told the Express. Lequay attributed the board's prosperity in part to the fact that it does not have to shoulder the burden of funding teams in international competition.

"I have advocated that we look at the development of sport in the West Indian context. Instead of everybody trying to send a team to World Cups, they (other sporting bodies) should send a West Indian team," Lequay said, explaining further that because the local board came under the umbrella body, the West Indies Cricket Board, it was spared the cash-consuming exercise of having to prepare teams for international competition.

On the matter of a West Indian coach for T&T's national team, Lequay said a proposal will be put to the TTCBC's executive at an October 4 board meeting.

The proposal involves the shortlisting of five ex-West Indies Test players.

"We are hoping to bring one on contract for a certain period to look at coaching for a selected group of batsmen," Lequay said. None of the proposed coaches is Trinidadian. Lequay explained this was because two obvious candidates, West Indies youth coach Gus Logie and Larry Gomes, were unavailable. The proposal has been prompted by the repeated failures of national teams to come up with consistent batting displays. "We think that there is a deficiency in our batting," Lequay admitted. The most recent cases involved the 1997 Red Stripe Cup team which finished fourth in the competition and the NorTel youth side that placed joint second with the Leeward Islands.

"The major disappointment was the Nortel team," Lequay said. And the CEO said the performance of the side was discussed at the officers' meeting although a manager's report is yet to be submitted. Lequay also revealed that the selection of a batting coach is not the only short-listing that could be done.

"We discussed coaching," he explained. "And what we are thinking of doing, is shortlisting managers and coaches and doing particular training for them in the context of responsibilities for national teams."

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