#BTColumn – Good move to have Lara as performance mentor

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Keith Holder

It is heartening that former West Indies captain and batting great, Brian Lara, will be assisting Cricket West Indies (CWI) as a performance mentor.

CWI said the 53-year-old Trinidadian will be working across all international teams and with input into the West Indies Academy.

Lara’s new role will be to support the various head coaches in providing players with tactical advice and improving their game sense, as well as working closely with the Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, on ICC World Cup Tournament strategic planning.

“Having spent time with the players and coaches in Australia and in discussions with CWI, I really believe that I can help the players with their mental approach to the game and with their tactics to be more successful,” Lara said.

Lara’s first assignment will be with the West Indies Test squad, which he has already joined in Zimbabwe for the two-match series, which starts February 4 in Bulawayo.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with other West Indies teams later in the year,” Lara said.

Adams, himself a former West Indies captain and teammate of Lara, remarked: “I am really looking forward to Brian making a significant contribution to our cricket system by providing invaluable guidance and advice to our players and coaches.

“We are confident that Brian will help to improve our high-performance mindset and strategic culture that will bring us more success on the field across all formats.  Everyone is excited to have Brian involved in supporting our players.”

West Indies’ last Test series was in Australia last month, losing 2-0.

Significantly, Lara was on a three-man review committee appointed by CWI to look into West Indies’ woeful performance at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year after they crashed out in the first round. The findings were made public last week.

Lara played in 131 Test matches, amassing 11953 runs including 34 centuries and 48 half-centuries (Ave: 52.88). In 299 ODIs, he scored 10405 runs with 19 hundreds and 63 half-centuries (Ave: 40.48).

Apart from his new role with CWI, Lara has been appointed as head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 IPL season. He was part of their team management last season as a strategic advisor and batting coach.

No doubt the West Indies players will be very keen to have his input.

I have looked back at Lara’s thoughts on the game 16 years ago when he retired from international cricket following the World Cup in the Caribbean.

It was a lengthy and emotional press conference on April 21, 2007, at Kensington Oval in the Sir Garfield Sobers Pavilion as he reflected on a glittering 17-year career following West Indies’ last World Cup match in the Super Eights against England.

Following are excerpts from what he said:

On how the game has progressed

I think the game is in good hands. There are a lot of very good players out there. The standard of the game is still very good. I know the ICC has tried to cut back on a lot of different things, but it is still a game that people need to be entertained. I have played my part and I feel the future of cricket is good.

I think the inclusion of the Twenty20 game is also something that is special, and people are going to enjoy that. A new group of spectators are going to come out and watch that part of the game. I think it is moving in the right direction and I just want to wish it continues to do so.

The Twenty20 game is around now and it is three hours, and people like that. It has brought out spectators who have actually never come to cricket before, and they love it. But I hope we don’t lose any form of the game – we don’t lose the 50-over game or Test cricket because of it.

There are a few unfortunate things that have happened in the past, but it has happened with the other sports. Maybe because you are in cricket, you feel it a lot. But I think the game is going to carry on. It has been around for quite some time and I don’t see it stopping now.

I know the first-class game has suffered – the Sheffield Shield and even here in the Caribbean. In County cricket, a lot of the international players are not playing. If there is one thing I would like to see improve in cricket, it is the first-class level. I think that should be raised a level where it is very competitive and very attractive. If you look at football, international football is big. But when you talk about club football, that’s on par. The coaches and managers don’t want their players to play for their country because they have a big cup match or something like that.

I would like to see County cricket or Sheffield Shield, or cricket in South Africa or the West Indies come to a level very close to Test cricket that you’re going to have a wider base of players, more players to look at, and maybe more fans coming out to support that level of the game. At present, that is where cricket is struggling. Our first-class level is not that great and maybe this is the end product where our Test cricket isn’t very good, our one-day game isn’t very good. Maybe we need to lift the standards of our one-day game.

On his message to youngsters

Just to play the game with passion and commitment. I think it is important. When I started playing cricket, I had a great love for it through my dad. He saw life vicariously through myself. He had six other boys and they all played a bit of cricket. But I think they stopped at club level or village level. Maybe when I first picked up the bat, the sort of support I had from him was tremendous. It’s the commitment that is needed from the youngsters, but most importantly, for anyone to get anywhere, the parents need to play a very important part. The support that I got from my parents – the late Pearl and Bunty – was tremendous, and also my sister Agnes, who took me to Harvard Coaching Clinic. I have so much to thank them for.

Yes I want to see the youngsters with passion and commitment, but I think they need the support from their parents, from school masters and wherever they can get it from to play the game and to get anywhere at all.

On Kensington Oval

Kensington Oval is definitely for me the Mecca of cricket in the Caribbean. Letting it host the World Cup final is a very, very good idea by the West Indies Cricket Board and the organisers. I have had wonderful moments here.

Kensington Oval would be one of the first places I would be travelling, just 35 minutes away from Trinidad, to see my next Test match.

Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com