West Indies: Lloyd - Players must practise what they learn (17 Sep 1997)

Wedesday, September 17, 1997

Lloyd: Players must practise what they learn

By SHAMMI KOWLESSAR

WEST INDIES manager Clive Lloyd believes that the West Indies team could be at the top of world cricket "for the next decade and beyond'' if the players put into practice what they learnt during the five-day team-building workshop at Asa Wright Nature Centre in Blanchisseuse. During yesterday's closing ceremony for the retreat entitled "The Playing Fields Of The Mind'', Lloyd was high in praise of the project, was co-ordinated and facilitated by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Institute Of Business.

The topics that were dealt with included: increasing self awareness, developing mental power, managing stress on and off the field, preparing yourself for future opportunities, investing in a future, leadership development and creating a nurturing environment.

Lloyd was not required to take the course but the most successful West Indies captain of all time participated in the retreat along with 11 other players from the West Indies and West Indies "A'' squad. However six invited members - skipper Courtney Walsh, Carl Hooper, Curtly Ambrose, Franklyn Rose, Philip Simmons and Brian Lara - were not available.

Lara was committed to playing a golf tournament in Jamaica and although he only returned home on Monday night, the star batsman and Windies vice-captain, was present for the closing ceremony.

I think that this course should not only be for the West Indies top players, it should be for our younger players, our under-19 players, so that when we send them out into the wide world we would have a fully rounded individual, not only where cricket is concerned,'' Lloyd noted. The West Cricket Board had invited the players to attend the retreat and Alloy Lequay, a member of the Board and the chief executive officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control, praised the 12 participants for their "dedication and committment to West Indies cricket.''

Susan Romano-Davis, one of the co-ordinators of the programme, pointed out that most retreats "focus on developing external skills but we focused on the internal, the individual and self because any change has to be a self-change and when you change you can get others to change.'' Lequay presented Lloyd and the 11 players - Ian Bishop, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sherwin Campbell, Mervyn Dillon, Roland Holder, Rawl Lewis, Dinanath Ramnarine, Suruj Ragoonath, Philo Wallace, David Williams and Stuart Williams - with participation certificates at the end of the ceremony.

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