There is a famous English football Club Manager who would always say to his star players ``You are no good to anyone if you are not on the field, I have known of no one who has scored a goal sitting on the bench''. In a cricketing context, no one can score a run or take a wicket sitting in the pavilion, which simply means, stay fit and healthy and play!
Rigorous regime
Nowadays, first class cricket teams worldwide undergo a rigorous fitness regime in order to enable them to cope with the demands of the modern game. No longer is one allowed to ``play cricket to get fit for cricket''.
Weight training, anaerobic, aerobic exercises, stamina endurance, agility and flexibility programmes are all part of today’s cricketers training routine.
Cricket was one of the last major sports to embrace what modern science had to offer the sport. Biomechanics, sports psychology, the importance of good nutrition have now been accepted as and has become an integral part of preparation.
The West Indies Cricketing Board (WICB) has not been left behind in this area by any means. A fitness and conditioning programme was instituted on behalf of the Board by Dr. Sam Headley Ph.D, a former Barbados youth player who is now Assistant Professor, Movement Sciences, Exercise Physiology at Springfield College in Massachusetts.
Fitness evaluation
With the assistance of WICB fitness trainer Denis Waight and Ronald Rogers, Dr. Headley carried out a fitness and conditioning evaluation on thirty-four recent and current Test and ``A'' team players.
The format is to have a further evaluation after three months of the first, then another after a further three month period, after which personal fitness standards will be established for every player on the programme.
As a point of interest all players who underwent their second evaluation showed marked improvements on their first test and in a couple of cases unbelievable results.
This fitness programme will be gradually expanded throughout the regions to include ``all'' representative squads from under 15 upwards, and already a segment in the WICB courses for Coaches is devoted exclusively to this element of cricket training.
Complex needed
What we need in the West Indies is a multi-sport complex with indoor facilities where in-depth cricket training in nets, coaching courses and the like could be carried out with access to a lecture room, video room, treatment room and a fitness centre in very close proximity.
Our cricket training and preparation should not be left to depend on the vagaries of the weather, we should be able to facilitate year round day/night cricket activities at several venues in the West Indies, as is available in many of the other cricketing nations, we need to follow this path.
Across The Board is the column of the West Indies Cricket Board.