Barbados U17 head coach Toppin talks about success

eteran head coach Dexter Toppin says “great planning and teamwork” were key factors as

SigniaGlobe Financial Barbados retained their title in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Men’s Under-17 Two-Day Championship in Trinidad & Tobago this week.

Captained by batsman Joshua Dorne, who is a national and West Indies Under-19 player with first-class experience as well, Barbados won all three of their matches.

Toppin spoke with this columnist.

HOLDER: Barbados won all of their matches. What would you attribute to such dominance?

TOPPIN: First of all, I believe that preparation is very important. Before I left with the Barbados Under-19 team as assistant coach for the recent CWI tournament in St. Vincent (Barbados were double-crown champions), I prepared a programme for the Under-17 squad to conduct their training with the assistant coach Nhamo Winn. It was well supported by the Barbados Cricket Association (BC) coaching staff.

After my return home from St Vincent & the Grenadines, I continued the programme for a week before leaving for Trinidad & Tobago. But you can prepare as much as you like in Barbados, conditions are different in Trinidad where the pitches are very slow.

From very early we had to adapt to the conditions. There was a lot of rain before the start of the tournament and the pitches were difficult to score runs on.

After our first practice session, it gave us an opportunity to work out how we should go about playing on slow and turning pitches.

Our planning was great and there was a total team effort. This is my fifth year coming to Trinidad for this competition and the experience gave me the knowledge of how the team should go about playing.

HOLDER: Were you happy with the condition of the pitches?

TOPPIN: Not at all. A first day pitch looked more like one on a third or fourth day. The pitches were mud, which was rolled in and they deteriorated very quickly. There was no grass and this was consistent in all of our matches.

HOLDER: Based on what you have said about the state of the pitches, do you believe that the tournament should be played in other territories?

TOPPIN: I believe the tournament should be shared around the region. It would then give the players an opportunity to play in different conditions. It’s hard for the players to be playing in one country all of the time.

On slow and low pitches, it is not good for our batsmen to develop their skills. And the bowlers need to be encouraged, especially the pacers.

CWI should look at it in a more realistic way of developing batters and fast bowlers.

HOLDER: Six teams took part in the tournament and only three rounds of matches were played. Are you in agreement with the schedule?

TOPPIN: No. I think to have each team playing three matches is not cutting it. There should be five rounds to give the teams an opportunity to play against each other.

HOLDER: Who were the outstanding Barbados players?

TOPPIN: I would like to pay tribute to the team. It was important to outline how we should play the game.

This squad included nine who were playing in Trinidad for the first time. Those with previous experience were the captain Joshua Dorne, Xaundre Baptiste, Shaquan Belle, Gadson Bowens and Joshua Branch. What helped the team was the fact that they took in the coaching information given by myself, and Nhamo.

Dorne captained the team extremely well. I think he is a future Barbados first-class captain. He is astute in the field. He understands the game and apart from his speciality as a batsman, he is an outstanding slip fielder, who took some sharp catches in both this tournament and the Under-19s in St Vincent. In addition he is a useful off-spinner who knows what he is doing with the ball.

As far as other individual performances were concerned, in the first game against Jamaica, Dorne made 51 and Branch showed his class with a knock of 84 when we were under pressure. Unfortunately, he sustained a hip injury, which prevented him from playing in the other two matches.

Another player who caught the eye was Zachary Carter. He is an underrated all-round cricketer. He is a no-nonsense left-handed opening batsman and a very useful left-arm orthodox spin bowler.

In our eight-wicket win against Trinidad & Tobago, chasing 132, Carter made 86 not out off 98 balls with nine sixes and three fours.

Then in the last match against Guyana, he took nine wickets for 57 runs including six for 24 in the first innings. He is also an outstanding slip fielder.

Mention must also be made of the bowlers who worked very hard on flat tracks. They include fast bowlers Jakeem Pollard, who is a left-armer, Belle, R’Jai Gittens, and Damani Roach.

They were well supported by the spinners Baptiste, Dorne, Khomari Griffith, and of course Carter.

Bowens was very good behind the stumps.

Kevion Newton, picked mainly for his batting, also showed that he is a handy all-rounder with his medium-pace bowling.

Our catching was outstanding but the ground fielding needs some work.

As I said earlier, our success was due to a total team effort, well supported by an outstanding management team. Apart from the coaches, we also had input from the experienced manager Dwayne Best and physiotherapist Kwayne Dalrymple.

HOLDER: You are also defending the 50-over Championship, which starts on Sunday. How confident are you of achieving the double again?

TOPPIN: I am very confident. Once the guys perform to their true potential, it might be easier to win one-day games because of the make-up. It is a well-balanced squad with depth in the batting and a strong bowling combination with pace and spin. And a lot of the players have played limited overs competitions at home.

Barbados Squad: Joshua Dorne (captain), Xaundre Baptiste, Shaquan Belle, Gadson Bowens, Joshua Branch, Zachary Carter, R’Jai Gittens, Jordan Graham, Micah Greenidge, Khomari Griffith, Kevion Newton, Jakeem Pollard, Damani Roach, Damarko Wiggins. Management Unit: Dexter Toppin (head coach), Nhamo Winn (assistant coach), Dwayne Best (manager), Kwayne Dalrymple (physiotherapist).

Summarised scores of Barbados’ matches:

At National Cricket Centre: beat Jamaica by an innings and 48 runs.

Jamaica 103 all out (34.4 overs) (Pajay Nelson 21, Savio Jones 16, Tyriek Bryan 10, Demarco Scott 10; Shaquan Belle 4-12, Damani Roach 2-11, Zachary Carter 2-14) and 85 all out (32.4 overs) (Pajay Nelson 15, Savio Jones 13, Eejay Spence 11; Jakeem Pollard 3-6, Zachary Carter 2-9, R’Jai Gittens 2-13, Xaundre Baptiste 2-20).

Barbados 236-7 declared (62 overs) (Joshua Branch 84 – 124 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes; Joshua Dorne 51 – 65 balls, 6 fours, 1 six; Micah Greenidge 29, Zachary Carter 14, Shaquan Belle 14, Xaundre Baptiste 13 not out, Kevion Newton 11; Tyriek Bryan 2-34, Vitel Lawes 2-53).

At Inshan Ali Park: beat Trinidad & Tobago by eight wickets.

Trinidad & Tobago 121 all out (37 overs) (Christian Lall 48, Joseph Mendoza 17, Aaidan Racha 13, Samir Saroop 12, AS Basant 10; Khomari Griffith 3-17, Damani Roach 3-30, Jakeem Pollard 2-31) and 106 all out (40.2 overs) (AS Basant 32, Aaidan Racha 20, Samir Saroop 12; Joshua Dorne 3-0, Jakeem Pollard 3-21, Kevion Newton 2-12).

Barbados 96 all out (41 overs) (Joshua Dorne 19, Damarko Wiggins 13, Shaquan Belle 13, Micah Greenidge 12, Kevion Newton 10; Brendan Boodoo 5-37, AS Basant 3-24) and 134-2 (31.5 overs) (Zachary Carter 86 not out – 98 balls, 3 fours, 9 sixes; Joshua Dorne 38).

At Gilbert Park: beat Guyana by an innings and 46 runs.

Barbados 188 all out (60.2 overs) (Kevion Newton 37, Damarko Wiggins 28, Gadson Bowens 27, Shaquan Belle 24, Joshua Dorne 22, R’Jai Gittens 18 not out; Golcharran Chulai 3-42, Riyad Latiff 2-28).

Guyana 66 all out (25.1 overs) (Rampersaud Ramnauth 21, Emmanuel Lewis 12; Zachary Carter 6-24, R’Jai Gittens 2-15) and 76 all out (23.1 overs) (Rampersaud Ramnauth 21, Emmanuel Lewis 16, Parmeshwar Ram 11; Xaundre Baptiste 4-8, R’Jai Gittens 3-6, Zachary Carter 3-33).

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 over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com