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National youth cricket coach Bennett

National Under-18 cricket coach Junior Bennett is sure the region does not have a talent problem. Rather he feels it is the harnessing of talent that is affecting cricket in the West Indies.

Bennett has been in charge of coaching at St. Elizabeth Technical for the past 18 years and has been involved with local youth cricket since 1994. He is now in Barbados with the Jamaica Youth team to compete in the 1999 NorTel Youth tournament. Recently One-on-One caught up with Bennett and asked him a few questions.

Question: What has been your most satisfying moment has a coach?

Junior Bennett: I think it was in 1994. At STETHS, the teams I coached won everything all the titles they played for. In that same year I was placed in charge of the national Under-19 team which shared the NorTel trophy with Guyana.

Q: What has been your most disappointing moment as a coach?

JB: I think it was in 1997. We went to Guyana to participate in the NorTel tournament with a very good team but we performed terribly.

Q: What would you say is the main problem plaguing West Indies cricket?

JB: I will not jump on the bandwagon and say we are short on talent. We are not short on talent. The problem we have is harnessing our talent. In 1995, the West Indies youth team beat Pakistan in Pakistan. In 1996, we drew the Test series and beat them in the one-dayers, yet none of those players have gone on to play for the West Indies with the exception of Pedro Collymore who just played one Test. However seven players from the Pakistani teams of 1995 and 1996 have played for the Pakistani senior team. Our problem might be tied to the economy. I really don't know. In Jamaica it seems that after the players leave youth cricket and play at the senior level for the first years, they seem to do extremely well. Delroy Morgan, Leon Garrick, Wavell Hinds are some examples. I really think we need to tighten our programme at the top (senior level).

Q: Who are the young cricketers in the region who you think have real potential to succeed at the highest level?

JB: I think there are quite a few. Ramnaresh Sarwan (Guyana), Christopher Gayle (Jamaica), Ricardo Powell (Jamaica) Wavell Hinds (Jamaica), Correymore and Ryan Hinds (Barbados).

Q: Of those mentioned, who do you think is more likely to succeed?

JB: I think Christopher Gayle has a very good chance of playing cricket at the highest level. He has talent and ability and if he just continues to work hard, he will reap the reward one day.

Q: Any problems you detect in the local Senior Cup?

JB: One of our problems in local cricket is that I don't think we have enough older players playing the game. Right now the average age of the teams is about 23-24. Most players believe they are too old at 30 and stop playing the game. Therefore there are not enough experienced cricketers to pass on their knowledge to the younger ones.

Q: What do you think the Jamaica Cricket Board needs to do to bring more funds to local cricket?

JB: The board has to become pro-active. They have to start marketing the game, possibly look at quite a number of fundraising events because cricket is a very expensive game.

Q: Do you think the lack of a proper structure in West Indies cricket is one of the main reasons for the dramatic decline in the standard of our play?

JB: While we were dominating world cricket, we did not look at our structure. We were living off a misguided conception that we would continue to produce world class cricketers and would still be world champions. The reality hit us in the face in 1995 when Australia beat us. I must give credit to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for implementing the regional Under-15 programme. Just a week or two ago, I heard the president talking about a Under-12 programme. That is commendable. What we need also, is to bridge the gap between the Under-19 and the senior team. We need something like an Under-23 programme. Once we get those programmes in place, I think our cricket will be better off.