Published: Sep 23, 2015, 06:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 23, 2015, 06:28 PM (IST)
Former international cricketer and currently employed as the West Indies Academy Bowling Coach, Vasbert Drakes has called for standardised coaching throughout the Caribbean. Drakes played 12 Tests for the West Indies between 2002 and 2004, and appeared in 35 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) from 1995 to 2004. In 12 Tests, Drakes had 33 wickets to his name whereas in 35 ODIs, he claimed 51 scalps. The 46-year-old has also coached the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The current coach at the academy, Drakes, was present along with West Indies Academy Director Graeme West to assess the players selected for the West Indies Under-19, from Trinidad and Tobago.
Drakes told the official website of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), “Basically we were looking to see where they were at with their game. They just came out of a domestic tournament where we identified these players as future West Indies cricketers and one of the things we said when we left home is to have standardised coaches in the Caribbean who operate with one basic genetic set-up.”
He added, “The importance of having that is it gives us a better opportunity to understand where we are at as coaches so when we prescribe certain medicine for players at least everyone will be aware of what we are trying to achieve from a holistic point of view.”
“It gives us the opportunity to see how far they have progressed. When we assessed them from four weeks ago we would have assessed some in the Easter camp and some did not meet the requirements the selectors wanted to see. So come December there will be another assessment before we go on to Bangladesh,” Drakes said.
He concluded, “So it is a matter of keep things up to speed in terms of the global practices that is required to play at the highest level and the work they need to put in before they enter the competition. That is one of the areas that probably we were a little bit slow on.”
