West Indies: Wright wants programme for Nortel players (21 Aug 1998)

21 August 1998

Wright wants programme for Nortel players

The Jamaica Gleaner

Jamaica youth manager Lynden Wright has expressed concern about the future of former Nortel players, especially those who do not get selected to national teams.

"I believe there should be a programme put in place by the various countries in the region as a holding ground for former Nortel players who do not go on to make their respective national teams," Wright said.

"There should be a Under-25 team in each of the territories to play against each other to keep the interest of their respective territories as well West Indies cricket alive," Wright said.

Wright said that a programme of this kind, "should be encouraged and possibly assisted by the West Indies Board through coaching and some level of financial support".

"After Nortel, if the players are not selected to represent their respective national teams, they could very well lose focus and their interest could go elsewhere, which would eventually lead to a down turn in the respective territories and ultimately West Indies cricket," Wright said.

"Players like pacers Dwight Mais of Jamaica and Tyrone Greenaway of the Leeward Islands along with spinner Avidesh Samaroo of Trinidad, who toured South Africa with the West Indies A team last year, are testimony to the existing problem as they are playing only club cricket," Wright said.

"My personal feeling is that if something like this does not happen very soon, West Indies cricket will decline, especially with the calibre talents available in the Caribbean today, which to me must be nurtured and guided along the right path for future success," he said.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)