Butts: Name under-19 coach

ST JOHN’S: Former West Indies off-spinner Clyde Butts is calling on the authorities to confirm who will be the coach of the regional Under-19 side for the youth World Cup in Bangladesh next February. “I’ve not been confirmed as coach for the World Cup,” Butts told commentator Joseph “Reds” Pereira in a recent interview.

The Guyanese, who has been in charge of the team for the Red Stripe Bowl competition, said it is important for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to make an appointment as soon as possible. “When you think that the (Red Stripe) tournament is actually finished (for us), you would have hoped that who is going to be the coach would have been announced so he would be able to tell the players what to go home and do and how to plan a programme for them for the rest of the year and the World Cup,” Butts said. “There are plans to have them coming back into camp, when? I won’t be able to say. Here’s hoping that they will be able to get together sooner rather than later, so that they could put things in place for the World Cup.”

The Young Windies won one of their four matches, but performed creditably in their losses to Guyana and Barbados. Butts blamed the team’s overall showing of a 25 percent win record on “a lack of experience.” “(It) showed out there in the younger players. It’s a learning process,” he said after the U-19s’ three-wicket loss to Barbados on Saturday. “I think when you look back at the tournament there are things we could have done a little differently. They can certainly go away from this tournament and say they performed creditably. “There are still some parts of the out cricket that need to be worked at in terms of the running between the wickets, backing up in the field and a lot of these things. The bowlers as well have got to have a little bit more patience in how they bowl. There is no way you can come and blast out any team at this level for 100 runs just by bowling 10 overs.” He continues: “It is a process where you have got to work hard and continue to work hard. I think with this team those are things that they have to learn and they have got to go back and decide how they are going to play their cricket.” Butts said the batsmen most also put more “thought” into their shot selection.