Former West Indies fast bowler, Courtney Walsh, believes that more can be done at the territorial level to improve the standard of cricket in the region.
The Jamaican, while speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show here, said he is not convinced that all national boards in the Caribbean are making a concerted effort at improving the level of cricket played in the respective countries.
“I am not 100 percent sure that they are because I don’t know the fine tuning of everything but I think that is where we could probably improve a little bit … They are going to tell you they need funding so, if we could get the funding to play more cricket like in Antigua or in Jamaica where the senior cup is being played and then they have the all-island tournaments it is more exposure,” he said.
“We had a tournament once that was assisted by the board where Sir Curtly Ambrose, Stuart Williams, Sir Richie Richardson, Carl Hooper, myself, Philo Wallace and Patterson Thompson just to name a few went to play semi-pro in Jamaica and we played for different teams and to me it was very good and things like that I would promote, I would want to see it happen again,” he added.
Walsh, who claimed 519 wickets in 132 Tests and 227 wickets in 205 One Day Internationals, believes that the preparation of better pitches, coupled with the increased amount of first class matches already being played, is a step in the right direction.
“I think, the pitches, if we can get those up to good standard and I think we have the 50 overs tournament going on now [annually], the CPL [Caribbean Premier League] is about to start and I was happy they went back in the First Class of having two rounds so we have 10 games so having all that being done then I can’t come back to criticise,” he said.
“Before hand we only had five games and we didn’t have people playing in England because a lot of people tend to forget that back in the day we had seven to eight guys who were pro in county cricket so they were being professionals in their own right. Now we have seven to 10 guys in the T20 [leagues] and that’s where we are strong. We are not strong in Test because we don’t have enough people with the exposure of playing the four-day game,” Walsh added.
As for the senior team’s performance on the international level, Walsh said their inability to consistently do the right things on the field is one of their major downfalls.
“I think consistency is the key. When I followed the games in the World Cup Qualifiers, I think we were up and down and a little bit inconsistent and I am not sure as to the structure they have or what they are looking to work towards but there [are things] when I look at [them] from the outside that definitely could do with some fine tuning to sort of make them more competitive and a little bit more consistent,” he said.
The Jamaican is currently the interim coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. He was given the role back in February.
Courtney Walsh: National cricket boards can do more
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