By Sean Devers
THE head coach of the internationally known Kumar Rampat Cricket Academy (KRCA) in Trinidad, Krishan Rampat, believes that youth cricket is important in the development of the region’s cricketers.

Rampat is in Guyana to witness the four-match U-13 cricket series between Guyana and Trinidad being held at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

In an invited comment, Vasu, as he is commonly known said, “It’s not necessarily school cricket but cricket at the youth level. Teachers and coaches tend to play matches to win. Youth cricket is extremely important. However, less value has to go towards winning and more value to the intricacies of the game.”

Coach Rampat is primarily here to witness and assess the performances of the more than half of the Trinidad and Tobago team who are members of his academy.

“I saw an abundance of naturally talented Guyana players who need to bat or bowl more frequently to really hone their skills. At the Kumar Rampat Cricket Academy any youngster who is seven or eight years old would already be batting fifty overs or three hundred balls in one session” the Trinidadian coach said.

He added, “If I am permitted to use Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s claim that batting five hundred balls a day led to his outstanding batting ability, it is therefore fair to say that KRCA has taken a page out of his book. It is normal at the KRCA that inductees vary for age group selections and would do double sessions and bat twice as many balls in those encounters.”

The head coach feels that if Guyana adopts a similar approach to the skill levels of its players, players will experience a meteoric rise in their competency levels.
“And remember that approach originated right here in your country. The academy is a research-oriented entity and that we explore and test best practices in order to offer a prized product to our clients,” added the coach.

The KRCA is very proud of its contingent of players on the Trinidad and Tobago team and of their performances.

“We consider it sacrilege to name only outstanding players as we consider them as part of a growing team that is now developing. We believe that cricket is a subset of life and that life being the greater set more emphasis needs to be placed on standards of behaviour, morals, ethics, values etc. After all, a player continues to live long after he has retired,” Rampat added

Rampat’s services are sought by several West Indian international cricketers like Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Narine, Jayden Seales and Mark Deyal to name a few.

Rampat is also the architect of several coaching innovations which will be launched in the New Year.