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WICB two-day C’bean Curators workshop ends in Guyana
By Sean Devers
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) funded two-day workshop for Caribbean curators conducted by International Cricket Council (ICC) Pitch Consultant Andy Atkinson ended in Guyana yesterday with a seminar at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
Each Territorial Board was asked by the WICB to nominate the curators who hold responsibilities for the preparation of the Test pitches in their respective territories and 32 participants including 14 from outside of Guyana attended the sessions.
Atkinson who has experience preparing wickets around the globe was the lead presenter during highly interactive engagements, while WICB Director from the Leeward Islands Gregory Shillingford, WICB’s Director of Cricket Barbadian Tony Howard and Guyana’s Territorial Development Officer Reon King were also present at Providence yesterday.
ICC Pitch Consultant Andy Atkinson (standing centre) and WICB officials with the Curators after the two-day Caribbean Curators workshop ended at Providence yesterday.
There have been many calls for some time from all quarters of the Caribbean for the WICB to address the issue of pitch preparation and Atkinson said this course was something he was trying to champion since the last ICC t20 World Cup.
“This (workshop) was needed for a long time and the WICB realised this and was very supportive. It was really well received and if it is the will of the board and funding is available it could be done once or twice a year around the Caribbean,” Atkinson, on his first trip to Guyana since the t20 World Cup last year said.
The workshop was originally scheduled for earlier in the year but it had to have been postponed due to the unavailability of Atkinson who worked extensively in the Caribbean during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 and the t20 event last year.
The Regional Super 50 competition is scheduled for Guyana from October 18-29 and Atkinson who has been conducting reviews of the possible match venues in Guyana, disclosed he will be in Guyana until mid next month since his job is to also ensure that the grounds used for matches in the competition are the best available and properly prepared.
“What I found that during the World Cup in 2007 the pitches and grounds were of the highest standards because the world was watching but after the World Cup ended things went down a bit before the standards were lifted again for the t20 World Cup last year,” Atkinson explained.
“This shows that those in charge of pitch and ground preparation here (West Indies) have the ability to produce good pitches but the problem is consistency since we found things were not so good in between the big World Events in the West Indies,” Atkinson added.
The importance of funding proper equipment and have curators who take pride in what they deliver were discussed during the two days and Atkinson said the sessions were very good since it was not he who was doing all the talking which led to a better understanding of what was required at the grass roots level.
Several former cricketers, including ex-Barbadian left-arm spinner Winston Reid were among the participants and Reid opined that one of the reasons for most pitches in the region being lower and slower than they used to be in the 1980s was the amount of matches played on them.
The Providence Stadium is one of 10 Test venues in the West Indies and when the last Test match was played there last year, West Indies secured a rare Test win. However, the pitch for that game was a treacherous one with variable bounce and a world-record 20 leg before wicket decisions were recorded.
Atkinson is convinced that despite the view of some that the soil and technical ‘know how’ is a major problem affecting pitches in the West Indies, good pitches can be consistently prepared if the curators are willing to work hard and adequate funds are available for ground and pitch preparation at the Test grounds in the West Indies.
The participants all received certificates of Participation from the WICB and those from the other Caribbean Islands were expected to depart Guyana today.
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