…Akeel Mohammed steals spotlight at presentation
SENIOR umpire Daniel Singh has complimented Caribbean Stars Cricket Club (CSCC) for an encouraging and successful 2022, in both the Toronto District Cricket Association (TDCA), and the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA).
Giving the feature address at the Club’s annual trophy presentation, dinner and dance, held recently in Toronto, Singh, a West Indies Cricket Umpires Association (WICUA) qualified umpire, however, challenged the members as to “where does the club go from here, and how do you chart the next steps.”
Giving an insight into his own strides in the field of coaching when he was a Development Officer as part of the West Indies ScotiaBank-sponsored Kiddy Cricket Programme before he started his umpiring courses, Singh pointed out that there were two important guiding principles he learnt as part of the training for team meetings.
“The first principle is to spend more time encouraging and praising performance, rather than focusing too much on errors. The second is to never criticise a player’s performance in front of his/her teammates, whether face-to-face or group messaging,” he said.
Singh, who was also a journalist at the Guyana Chronicle in the 1990s before migrating, advised that “when coaches highlight errors in front of teammates, it is the worst thing they could do to anyone’s sense of self-worth and self-confidence.
“Often,” he said, “these coaches think that creating fear by public scrutiny would make better players, but they were wrong.
“Alternatively, there is nothing better for a player’s confidence when a coach praises the performance in front of teammates; it gives credibility amongst peers, and makes players feel like they are adding value to the greater team cause. Most importantly, it makes players want to give their best for their coach.”
According to Singh, “in addition, be extremely mindful to use the right tone and language when facilitating a debrief of a team or an individual player’s performance. Naturally, in every match, there are errors and mistakes.
“Players are human beings; not performance tools or machines, and they will make mistakes. This is what makes running a cricket club, or any coaching such a skillful practice.
“How we choose to respond is vital to our credibility and quality as a leader in the club. We must never forget we are training and leading the person; not the position the player holds in the team.”
Singh also told the players not to make any unnecessary comparisons with other players, as this is a kind of back-handed criticism. “We know the experience of Darren Bravo being compared to Lara and Ricardo Powell being called the next Viv. None ever happened.”
“I hope you note what the cricketing pundits and fans are doing with Tage Chanderpaul in comparing him with his father. Let us hope the same does not become of him.
“It is fine to want to perform like a great player, but do not make the person or the style as the standard; make performance the standard.”
Trinidadian Akeel Mohammed stole the spotlight, scoring most runs in the TDCA (263), and the SCA (535) to cop the Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards for both leagues. He also registered a century in the SCA Elite Division, while claiming a five-wicket haul.
Other outstanding performers in the TDCA were Moonasar Mahadeo (22 wickets), which included five in one game; Jermylee Barnett (five wickets in a match); Navindra Nauth (most catches, 13) and best fielder. Trushil Patel was the MVP of the semi-final.
In the SCA, Patel and Nicholas Ali took 20 wickets each, while there were centuries for Mario Belcon and Nauth. Patel and Mohammed had five-wicket hauls, while Nauth was again in the limelight with the most catches (11), and got the nod for the best fielder. The most disciplined player award went to Jonhatan Singh. (Frederick Halley)
