Technology can improve sporting

THE EDITOR: Sports like cricket and netball (even football) took on a scientific note since 1987. A look at the Prudential World Cup in Cuttack in India which was won by Australia saw the different approach to batting than the back-foot stroke play, running between the wickets when a no-ball is called and improved fielding. A notable omission in the West Indies bowling attack was the late Malcolm Marshall who was injured. Tony Gray was forced to be on the sidelines after he faced a rising delivery from the medium pacer Carl Hooper during a batting practice.

In the world of netball, Jamaica was able to draw level with the girls from Trinidad and Tobago during the Commonwealth tournament in that year, and used technology to be like the Australian and New Zealand netballers. It is no great wonder that the Jamaicans are way ahead of Trinidadian netgirls even in the 21st century. How the management of the respective sporting disciplines are meeting the challenge of being technically backward is anybody’s guess. When the late Tim Hector warned the West Indies Cricket Board of the computer technology of the South Africans in the pre-tour period, nobody took notice and the rest is history. That was in 1997. Even Zimbabwe is using scientific methods and that was reflected in the First Test match against the West Indies, a team that is in a position like the NBA Los Angeles Lakers: a team to beat! But all is not lost, better days are ahead.

JEFFREY M JOSEPH
Fyzabad