In an effort to update its coaching manual, and coaching techniques the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), will be bringing together a group of former players and some of the games finest thinkers this week in Trinidad.

Former captain, Sir Vivian Richards, will be one of the former West Indies stars helping to update coaching techniques in the Caribbean at the one week workshop.

Sir Vivian, who captained West Indies in 50 of the 121 Tests he played between 1974 and 1991 and will celebrate his 50th birthday on Thursday, will be part of the workshop that opens at the Cascadia Hotel in Port-of-Spain on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

Four key figures in West Indies cricket will also attend: president Rev. Wes Hall, a former West Indies fast bowler; team coach Roger Harper, a former off-spin all-rounder; selection chairman Mike Findlay, a former West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman; and chief executive of the West Indies Players' Association David Holford, a former leg-spin allrounder.

The workshop follows a lot of conceptual work undertaken by Dr. Michael Seepersaud and the development unit of the WICB, as West Indies try to rediscover the halcyon days of the 1970s and 1980s when they were the leading cricket nation in the world.

"We felt that it was vital to have individuals like Sir Everton Weekes, Seymour Nurse, Gordon Greenidge, Jeffrey Dujon, Derryck Murray, Colin Croft and Ian Bishop all part of the process," remarked Dr. Seepersaud.

He added: "Cricket means so much to the people of the Caribbean and we could not have a workshop like this one without inviting persons of this calibre. We are looking forward to having their input.

"Our hope is that at the end of the workshop, we can come away with a plan that clearly charts a course for the way we do things in the Caribbean, so that we can see the strong revival of West Indies cricket in a short space of time."

Australian coaches Ashleigh Byron and Tim Coyle have been brought in to conduct the six-day workshop that will discuss changes to the West Indies coaching structure.

Byron and Coyle will work with participants at the workshop to draft the outline of the WICB's Level I, II and III coaching curriculum and the contents of the WICB's coaching manual.

The participants -- that will also include former West Indies players like Kenny Benjamin, David Holford, Peter Lashley, Clyde Butts and Tony Gray -- will also assist in designing a coaching accreditation structure and mechanism to monitor the quality of coaching in the West Indies.

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