Winston Benjamin – By Neto Baptiste
Winston Benjamin Former Cricketer
Former West Indies, Leeward Islands and national cricketer, Winston Benjamin, believes that a consistent and properly structured programme is crucial if the standard of the game at both the youth and senior levels is to improve.
Suggesting that the standard of cricket at the local level has been poor for quite some time now, the former fast bowler says local cricket authorities must build a proper programme centred around the longer formats of the game.
“Okay, you see the 20/20, I will stick with the 20/20. Let us have an east side, a central, a north, a south, a west and look to youngsters to come through in that format. Let the cricket play with a particular standard, not just you throw a bunch of cricketers into a park. Let us structure it properly. For me, 10/10 cricket is rubbish, nonsense, and we are teaching that in school,” he said.
A former coach at the regional level, Benjamin suggests there needs to be more emphasis placed on the game within the primary schools where talent could be identified at an early stage.
“We need to go into the primary schools from grade one to grade six. We need to stop our foolishness because you can’t wait until you reach grade six. When you reach grade six, you’re 12, you’re 11. If you’re good education-wise, you get a 10 plus and early 11 and you are now going to start, but then you’re going to be playing in an under-15 competition that the fundamentals are not there,” he said.
“Going into schools at five, we are now teaching the fundamentals so by the time they get to grade two, grade three, they have an idea of the fundamentals and by the time you get to grade six, you’re now looking to start to play,” he added.
Currently, there is no development programme funded and run by the local cricket association while very little emphasis is placed on development within the schools programme, which is used primarily for participation.
