Tony Becca

For 10 years and more West Indies cricket has been suffering. In fact, since 1995 the West Indies team has been the beating stick of the top seven teams in the world. It has been able to flex its muscles only against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh - the bottom two - and the question on everyone's lips is this: when will the West Indies team return to, or near to, the top of world cricket?

In the opinion of many, that is a long way off, and even then it all depends on what happens in the schools and in the clubs, on the amount of money available to West Indies cricket, on the introduction of a professional first-class league, and on a change in the administration and/or in the administrators of the game.

There are those, however, who believe that the problem with West Indies cricket is simply a lack of talent, that every effort must be made not only to find talent but also to encourage and develop that talent, and like so many other opinions, that is a good one, an important one, and one that deserves the attention of the clubs, the terri-tories, and the West Indies board.

West Indies cricket needs to find some talent - the younger the better - and the under-15 age group seems to be the place to start, and thank God,with the help of a number of cricket-loving companies around the region, including Digicel and Supreme Ventures, something is being done about it.

Like everything else, however, there is a good way and there is a better way, and in my humble opinion, the Supreme Ventures/Courtney Walsh way is better than the Digicel way.

If simply finding talent is the aim, then Digicel's way of going around the islands, holding two-day camps and naming the best batsman, the best bowler, and the best fielder after each one is OK.

If, however, the aim is not only to find talent but to encourage that talent with the aim of developing that talent, then the Supreme Ventures way, organised by Walsh, must be the better way.

Coaching team islandwide training

For almost four months, Walsh and his team of coaches - Robert Samuels, Junior Bennett, Andrew Coley, Grantley Reid of New Hope, Richard Walters of St. Elizabeth, Cleon Smith of Middlesex, and Patrick Reid of Manchester High, along with trainer David Bernard - went around the island. They visited each parish and coached 28 boys from age nine to 15, selected by the respective parish association. At the end of that stage, the best 25 from each county were selected. After the coaching sessions, each county played one Twenty20 match and one 50-overs match. After that, the best 26 players were selected and, at the end of it all, the top 16 were selected and their names presented to the Jamaica Cricket Association for future reference.

On top of that, one parish coach attended each parish session, a set of cricket gear was left with each parish, and apart from learning to bat, bowl, field and to think the game, the players, for two hours every afternoon during the three days in each parish, attended a session dealing with deportment and grooming, reading and writing.

By the time they came to last Saturday at the Police Sports Club, Elletson Road, by the time the programme got to its last day, some of the country's most talented under-15s were on show, and they looked good for their age, including Krishna Graham of St. Elizabeth Technical, Kadian Bennett of Charlemont, and 10-year-old Ramaal Lewis of New Hope - the three who, after almost four months, were named the best batsman, the best bowler, and the most promising player.

No one knows where they will end up, but they seemed to have enjoyed the programme, they all looked promising, and it is the encouragement, the continued coaching, guidance and grooming from now on that will decide where they end up.

No one knows, but who to tell, maybe eight or 10 years from now a few of them will be leading the Windies charge up the ladder.

First things first, however, and the first thing is that every one of the near 400 boys who attended the camp, and who got the opportunity to talk cricket with former Jamaica and West Indies players like Walsh and Samuels, will be available for Jamaica's team in next year's regional under-15 tournament.

Courtney Walsh - file