Hendriks
Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
THE JAMAICA Cricket Association plans to embark on a new policy in its bid to improve the standard of the country's cricket.
According to president Jackie Hendriks, too much time has been spent on teaching older cricketers how to play the game, and the time has come for a change - for the emphasis to be placed on players below age 15.
Speaking at the Melbourne Cricket Club's annual awards dinner at Derrymore Road on Saturday night, Hendriks, a former Jamaica and West Indies wicketkeeper, said he was convinced that in order to improve the standard of the game, in a bid to develop players in all aspects of the game, the JCA must concentrate its efforts and resources in training young cricketers and not older cricketers.
"We have to teach the young cricketers from an early age the fundamentals of the game - and not just the skills of batting and bowling. More importantly, we have to teach them what cricket is all about. We have to teach them about fielding and running between the wickets. We have to improve their outcricket," said Hendriks.
"We also have to talk to them about the importance of good discipline, we have to instil in them the pride of representing their school, club, parish and country, and we have to teach them to respect the game."
According to Hendriks, the time that is now spent in teaching the basics of the game to older players who should have grasped that at the under 15 level should now be spent teaching the youngsters the basics of the game.
"The time with the older cricketers should be used to get the players to think the game - to develop the more advanced aspects of the game and the ability to create winning situations and to follow through to victory. Far too often we have seen Jamaica teams squandering their chances of victory by the inability to press home their advantage. Too often they end up losing after finding themselves in a winning position."
Hendriks told the gathering that the JCA has been considering a change in strategy for some time now and promised that details of the new policy will be announced shortly.
