Aussie praises ‘terrific’ WI camp

BRIDGETOWN: Terrific, terrific! Those words were repeated a couple times by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) coaching manager Darren Holder as he summed up the just concluded two-and-a-half-week training camp here for a squad of 25 in preparation for the VB triangular series with Pakistan and hosts Australia, starting next month. “The camp went terrific. It was fantastic work for the boys and I am sure they are very, very prepared now for the trip to Australia,” Holder told CMC Sports yesterday.

Holder made his comments in a wide-ranging interview after the camp concluded on Tuesday with yet another session at the 3Ws Oval, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, followed by a dinner. “I think the camp was terrific. I think we have been very fortunate to have some good facilities here provided by the University of the West Indies and the players have really taken a conscious effort to accept the types of activities that we have provided for them,” Holder said. “And I think they have really enjoyed what we have put in front of them in terms of challenges and the skills and activities. Overall, I think it has been a very productive and rewarding time for all of those involved and certainly talking to them last night (Tuesday), there is not one person that I have had direct communication with that said they haven’t improved their skills and approach to the game.” 

The 29-year-old Holder, now in his eighth month as an employee of the WICB, was one of four Australians, along with the illustrious former Barbados and West Indies captain and all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers, who worked with the players. The other Australians —  all new employees of the WICB —  were head coach Bennett King, his assistant David Moore and physiotherapist Stephen Partridge. Holder pointed out that even though the camp was originally slated for three weeks, the amount of work put in since the start on November 29, was more than rewarding.  “We worked for two-and-a-half weeks but I think that given the work that we did during the programme, the physical work-load really extended them,” he said. “So the way we staged things and graduated our programme, we made sure that by the final day there was not much more that the players could give to us physically.

“Basically for the last week, we had a lot of different rotations happening.  There were different groups of players working in indoor nets with bowling machines and a lot of balls hitting, multiple balls, as many as they could with Sir Garfield. “And there were also some spinners working on the practice wickets just inside the indoor complex. Then we had a centre wicket simulation going in the middle on most days to duplicate match conditions and give them a really good chance to run between the wickets and play cricket as they would when they are involved in matches.” Leading up to the final session on Tuesday before lunch, fast bowlers Reon King and Ian Bradshaw caught the eyes of spectators and they sent down many deliveries aimed at one stump with only a wicket-keeper to stop the balls.

Bradshaw had missed a couple days during the camp towards the end of second week because of a stomach bug.  “Everyone had specific, individual work they wanted to achieve throughout the different days and we set people different tasks. So with Ian and Reon yesterday (Tuesday), we just wanted to complete their development for the camp and finish off with a nice, strong bowl through to the keeper without any batsman there, just getting their body movements and patterns working very effectively and efficiently,” Holder explained.