West Indies: NorTel Championship Review - Batting on zero (2 Aug 1998)

2 August 1998

Batting on zero

By Garth Wattley

THE umpires had called play. But you had to look hard, through the grey veil, to see any of it.

So heavy, so constant were the July showers, it was difficult to say who was coming, who was going, or who was still at the crease.

The NorTel West Indies Under-19 cricket organisers were eventually forced to do a double-take and make the 1998 tournament a test of one-day, not three-day prowess.

And still they were washed out.

So when Ricardo Powell collected the winners' trophy for Jamaica last evening, he was claiming a victory more of endurance than skill, achieved in a competition which left virtually everyone still batting on zero.

"I would not say it has set back Under-19 cricket in the West Indies," was Jeffrey Dujon's measured assessment of it.

But," added, the NorTel All Star selector and former Windies star, "I would not say in the form it has had to be played, there has been any significant benefit to the cricket."

The "final" in which Jamaica and Barbados battled for two days and still could not make themselves outright winners, spoke volumes. Inconclusive, infuriating, aggravated by administrative vacillation over how, in the event of an abandonment the final should be decided, the last act was a microcosm of what players and coaches alike experienced over this past fretful month.

The very large gamble of attempting to stage so essential a tournament in so rainy a month failed miserably. Six of the last 10 matches of the limited overs tournament were abandoned. And in the original three-day format the first two championship rounds were washed out entirely.

And while the local cricket board has argued in its defence, with some justification, that the July staging went against its own advice, they must still bear culpability for agreeing to the hosting against their better judgment.

"August" says Dujon, would be a more suitable time. Jamaican manager Lyndel Wright agrees.

Noting that, "at this time a number of teams were under prepared," he suggests that, "we need to look at a time factor and identify that period as a calendar period for our youth cricket programme and proceed along those lines."

August would be his choice as well.

The wet weather aside, the problems of NorTel '98 were compounded by the poor choice of venues and in some cases, inadequate ground management.

And even as he watches the midweek rain flush away his semifinal hopes, Trinidad and Tobago manager Alec Burns seems to have an administrative axe to grind.

"If you look at the actual tournament, we have to put a lot of things in place as far as organisation is concerned so that people will be a lot more comfortable," he says ruefully.

But Burns continues, speaking broadly, "we have some talent." Even with limited viewing, Dujon is of the same view.

"Assessment has been difficult and performances have not been what one would have liked to have seen," he admits.

Part of the problem has been caused by the change of format, although Wright says, "we have seen the adjustment taking place in some areas." He in fact advocates the adoption of a one-day tournament as a regular part of the Under-19 scene. It is a view shared by others, including, it is understood, the organisers.

But by and large in 1998, many players-those representing defending champs Guyana especially-were unable to make the one-day adjustment. Still Dujon says, "I haven't really seen any less talent than was around when I played."

He too, "would have no problem including some one-day cricket. But," he insists, "three-day cricket is where your basic skills are developed. One-day cricket benefits from the soundness of your technique and your concentration in the more extended game."

However, of much more concern to the former ace keeper is the region's ability to hold in to, and harness the current talent.

"I think the main difference is the difference in focus," he says. "I don't think the young players are as focussed these days. There are obviously more distractions. And we do lose some players to other sports especially after they leave organised cricket."

This fight for focus is one that has confronted Burns directly. Repeatedly the T&T batsmen have struggled for consistency, and he concedes that, "talent is not all. (Systematic) development has a cost. We have to make up our minds to bear that cost. Unless and until we do that, I don't think we will be making much progress."

Dujon has a theory on how this continuity can be achieved.

He would like to see some structure put in place for the period between Under-19 and national team level for a significant group of players who fall through the net. "That is a period which needs to be addressed to keep these fellows on the developmental path," he insists.

But the All-star selector does not see the onus for planning lying solely with the West Indies board.

"The local boards," he says, "need to have programmes that really address the development of the younger players, the refinement of their skills."

Refinement is also on Desmond Baxter's mind.

Baxter was manager of the NorTel development team, which along with Canada, were the non-championship teams in this year's tournament.

The NorTel side, made up of a player each from the participating teams lost their one-day series 1-2 to the Canadians, while their three-day fixture was rained out. It was not a bad return given the unbalanced, ever-changing nature of the side. There were few specialist players-no openers-and outside of West Indies pacer Nixon McClean's impressive pace brother Reagan, few bowlers of merit.

And while he and coach Feria Hayes agree the idea of a NorTel team is progressive and worthwhile, they feel more structure is needed in future.

"There should be a different format," says Baxter.

"Two players from each of the seven participating countries should be chosen to form the NorTel team so that you have a group. And they should get together at least a week or two weeks before."

The planners of West Indies cricket will have that and much more to chew on in the coming year. And perhaps when next it is NorTel time, when next the region's youngsters go to the crease, they will get off the mark ... and into full drive.

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