AUCKLAND, New Zealand CMC:
AT A time when the West Indies team is struggling desperately to regain lost prestige and respect, the woeful financial status of the game in the region is weighing down the effort to effect a recovery.
"We would appreciate as many resources as we can get," said head coach Bennett King yesterday in response to a query as to whether the appointed technical adviser, former West Indies captain and all-rounder Sir Gary Sobers, should be involved more with the team.
"Financially, it's very hard to do some of those things at present. It really affects everyone," King stated, while noting that the recent cost-cutting exercise initiated by new West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon will affect the team's future preparation.
"We've recently been notified that we can't have any more training camps, which hampers our ability to use Sir Gary. We've got a number of hurdles to cross but I don't think any of them are going to be so great that the side can't move forward. We've got to try to be as creative as we can."
Sir Gary has so far only been available to work with the team at training camps in the Caribbean, a situation that brings into the question the value of his input given that the West Indies team spend a considerable amount of time each year on tour.
BUDGETARY CONSTRAINT
Despite this massive budgetary constraint and the fact that he is still awaiting word on the WICB's review of the technical staff's performance in their first year on the job, King is forging ahead with his plans for a strong showing at next year's World Cup in the Caribbean.
"We are trying to put in place a two to three-month camp, through sponsorship, because we've got some significant scheduling breaks before the World Cup," he explained.
"The Stanford Twenty20 and some of the proposals he has put in place actually aid our development as well because of the resources they are putting into the communities. We've been working with the Stanford people behind the scenes in terms of what we'd like to see. We'll be looking to play some warm-up matches against some of the Associate Member countries as well."
Although he is encouraged by moves to establish a Centre of Excellence and restructure the regional competitions, King is all too aware that the crippling debt of the WICB - estimated at US$15 million at the end of September last year - leaves his team at a significant disadvantage.
"We're the least resourced of all the countries that I've ever been to concerning cricket, and that would include some of the Associate Member countries. Yet we're always being asked to perform on the world stage," he revealed.
"We're making no excuses. We've just got to ensure that we make the most with what we've got and try and prepare the players as best we can."
