Law reveals West Indies’ two major problems

RENALDO MATADEEN

West Indies head coach, Stuart Law, admits that with his tenure coming to an end, West Indies cricket is still some ways off from turning the proverbial corner. The Australian admitted that two main factors were adversely affecting the region’s development, but noted the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is making strides towards rectifying this.

Law confessed the first issue was the players’ fitness levels. “The first thing I noticed was that we needed to be fitter and stronger. It wasn’t really a cricket skill issue. We needed to work smarter, not longer,” he said.

“[...] We had to get the fitness and strength into it but also work ethic that was going to be smarter rather than time-consuming. Slowly but surely over time, it’s developed very well. The boys now know what they’re doing three days out from a game,” he continued.

Law admitted the raw talent is there but this preparation was essential in harnessing the Caribbean’s potential, such as new pacers, Obed McCoy and Oshane Thomas. “Fitness counts for a lot of things. It counts for decision-making on the ground. If you’re not physically fit, you can make poor decisions in the middle because you can get tired. And that was it. I saw a lot of skill. Still do. Every player that comes in here has got something about him. One thing they need to work on is being able to maintain that skill level under pressure the entirety of the game rather than 10 or 12 overs here and there,” he added.

“We’ve got good pace, we’ve got good spin, we’ve got young kids coming in. I’m excited to see them coming in. There’s skill in the Caribbean. Just need to get them fit and strong. If they’re fit and strong, they’re going to maintain that skill a lot longer,” Law continued.

The other aspect of Windies cricket he hopes is fixed when he departs is the introduction of a proper academy to replace the High Performance Centre in Barbados. He revealed this was why other countries were excelling across all formats. “Next one would be to have an academy. We had an academy for a while. It was disbanded for whatever reason. We’re in the process of developing one in Antigua, where we’ve seen immediate improvement,” added Law. “A lot of these young fast bowlers coming through, they’ll be able to come in for two-three months at a time, get through an extensive gym programme, which will give them functional strength to bowl fast. People back in the Caribbean say: “Why do we need ‘em [academies]? We didn’t back in the day.” I think we need it now because every other nation does. And every other nation has started to catch up and go past us.

He revealed WICB CEO, Jonny Graves, and Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, were in full support of this notion.