Roger Harper yesterday chided observers who described the West Indies'
pre-tour camp as an army-type exercise which was not suited for
cricketers.
The West Indies coach, to the contrary, believed the two-week camp in
Trinidad served its purpose in preparing the team for tours of
Zimbabwe and Kenya.
A lot of things have been said about the camp and wrongly so. A lot of
people from the Press have made some ill-advised and unresearched
statements, he said on his return to the Caribbean yesterday after a
successful tour.
The West Indies coach lauded the effort of team sports therapist
Ronald Rogers and two physical training instructors from the Trinidad
and Tobago Defence Force for their input at the camp.
But he was critical of those who made negative comments about the
exercise.
I read things in the Press about an army-style camp. I have never been
to an army camp and I don't know what it's like, Harper said.
I doubt whether the people who made those comments saw any details of
the programme of the camp.
He added that Rogers' assistants had previously worked with other
international sports teams.
Certainly they are not army drill sergeants. The programmes they ran,
as designed by Ronald, were specifically geared to getting our team in
the best physical shape and mental condition as well, Harper said.
Judging from the results, obviously they have to be given some sort of
credit.
Harper was speaking to reporters during a welcome reception for the
team, hosted by British Airways in the Club Caribbean Lounge at the
Grantley Adams International Airport.
The reception was held following the success by the West Indies team
which returned from an overseas tour with positive results for the
first time in six years.
Carl Hooper's men won the Coca-Cola Cup in a three-way limited-overs
series that also involved Zimbabwe and India, and followed up with a
1-0 series victory in a two-Test series against Zimbabwe.
On leaving Zimbabwe, the West Indies moved over to Kenya where they
easily defeated the hosts in three One-Day Internationals.
By no means have we arrived, Harper said, with the knowledge that
Zimbabwe and Kenya are two of the weaker teams in international
cricket.
This is a process of development, a process of growing and we've shown
that we are learning.
He said the success in Zimbabwe was significant because India had only
recently stopped the winning streak of mighty Australia but were
unable to defeat Zimbabwe in the preceding Test series.
Winning in Zimbabwe was no mean feat. Defeating India in the (Coca-
Cola) final was a significant achievement.
We managed to overcome the adversity of losing a number of key players
to injury.
The team stuck together well, fought very well and there was the
determination and the will to win that process started way back in the
camp.
The tour started with major injury worries for the West Indies which
resulted in champion batsman Brian Lara, leg-spinner Dinanath
Ramnarine, and fast bowlers Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon and Kerry
Jeremy having to return home early.
If you look at the schedule of international cricket being played
around the world, you will get injuries due to wear and tear, Harper
said.
What we have to try and do is to put together a process in the
Caribbean of preparing our youngsters from early, making them fitter
and stronger so that when they get to international level they are
better prepared to take on the rigours of the sort of schedules we
have at the moment.
The reception was attended by Barbados Cricket Association officials,
including first vice-president David Holford, second vice-president
Owen Estwick, board members Conde Riley and Bobby Goodman, consultant
Selwyn Smith, as well as British Airways' area commercial manager
Elvin Sealy.
The West Indies' party included Harper, Barbadians Courtney Browne,
Corey Collymore and Pedro Collins, Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul,
Reon King, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Neil McGarrell and Trinidadian Dave
Mohammed.