Crandon says it’s a privilege to work with Harper

Jun 20, 2016 Sports

Selected as Warriors Asst Coach

By Sean Devers
For 34-year-old Esuan Crandon being named as Assistant Coach to Head Coach Roger Harper for the Guyana Amazon Warriors for the 2016 Hero’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) t20 tournament came as a surprise

Coach Crandon (centre) with spin twins Bishoo & Permaul who
are both members of the Warriors set up this year.

“Yes it came as a surprise to me, for the fact that I wasn’t involved with the Franchise before. I was driving my family in Georgetown in March and I received a call from Mr. Omar Khan (Manager of the Warriors) asking me if I was interested in being a part of the Amazon Warriors Franchise. A meeting was set up and it all materialized after,” the former Guyana pacer disclosed.
Initially Crandon thought the Khan just needed him to work with the coaching staff during the camp and home games but was excited to just be a part of the Warriors set up.
“First let me say it’s a great honour and privilege to be working with Mr. Harper for the first time as coach. His vast amount of knowledge and experience as a cricketer and coach over the years speaks volume. He worked with lots of regional and International players over the years. I am eager to learn new things and also share my knowledge and experience as well,” said Crandon, who has 90 wickets from 38 First-Class games.
In 2010 Harper assisted with the preparation of the Guyana Amazon Conquerors for Champions League which toured South Africa and Crandon who played the last of 18 t20 games in 2011, was part of that squad as a player.
“I have an idea of how he operates and I’m willing to compliment his coaching style,” Crandon disclosed.
“I would say that my biggest challenge would be working with the International players for the first time. Obviously they are from different backgrounds and cultures. For me it all comes down to managing players by knowing your sport and players and understanding individual preferences, differences, strengths and weaknesses and plan your sessions to suit and ensure you support them appropriately,” said Guyana most successful First-Class Coach.
Crandon said it would a little different from working with the Guyana team.
“It’s a little different because the Guyana team consists of mainly Guyanese and one Barbadian plus I have been working with these players for a while now. On the other hand CPL is a huge tournament and the Warriors squad consists of players from Guyana, the different Caribbean Islands and International players. It is also different because I will be working under Mr. Harper as his assistant coach,” Crandon said.
Crandon who made his First-Class debut in 2000 said he was looking forward to working with the Head Coach and support staff along with the players and also get the opportunity to meet and converse with other coaches and International players as well.
“I strongly believe as a coach when you engage with different coaches and players most of the time learning takes place and that in itself helps to develop your coaching skills,” said Coach Crandon.
Crandon recently attended a Level 3 coaching course in Barbados and says that experience was certainly one to remember adding that that it will definitely contribute towards his development as coach.
“I personally think that the course will better equip all the coaches to help develop West Indies cricket. Emphasis was placed on technical, tactical, mental and physical aspects of the game etc. We were also introduced to effectively assessing suspect bowling action and possible remediation drills to improve action,” Crandon said.
His work will begin today when the Guyana based Franchise begin a one week camp with a morning fitness assessment session from 10:00hrs and ‘nets’ from noon at the Providence Stadium. The Warriors play their first game in St Kitts on June 30 before traveling to Trinidad for a game there on July 2. They have four home matches on July 7, 9, 10 & 12.