Sir Gary, King make sound start

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Newly appointed West Indies head coach Bennett King and new technical consultant Sir Garfield Sobers have opened their innings on a sound note. Sir Garfield joined King yesterday at the three-week training camp in Barbados, and in independent comments indicated they were both in agreement on the way forward for West Indies cricket. King told reporters that he and Sir Garfield have been discussing coaching methods, things they saw in players and what they would like to do with the players in the game and their ideas were very similar.

It was really scary in that we were very, very close in all matters, King said. “Gary, when he was playing, was before his time in my opinion, and it certainly is still flowing through just now, because he still thinks creatively about the game of cricket. His knowledge is just there waiting to be picked.” Sir Garfield, in his first working day as technical adviser, expressed similar sentiments. “From what I am seeing he (King) knows what he is doing and talking to him, his way of thinking is similar to mine. He is a man who will do a tremendous job.” The West Indies are preparing to face Australia and Pakistan in a tri-nation showdown next January and February.