Former West Indies and Barbados opening batsman Philo Wallace believes a new chapter in Caribbean sports needs to be written, where top priority is given to the mental conditioning of emerging sportsmen and women in region, complimenting their undeniable athletic prowess.
He said it was no longer feasible to hone the natural talent that abounds across the Caribbean, without zooming in on the need to enrich their minds, to ensure their motor and mental skills were aligned.
Once this was achieved, the former cricketer said, champion performances from team and individual sports were sure to become a way of life in the region.
“Let’s go past cricket. Let’s look at it in a general sense. When you look at people from the Caribbean, we have the build…we have the ability…we have the strength. We have everything else. But the only thing that is missing is our mind; our mental preparation. A guy called Mark Taylor, former Australian captain said that cricket is played 90 per cent from the head–from the shoulders up. We all laughed. And, he’s right! We in the Caribbean…we have everything it takes! We don’t have facilities, but despite that we have what it takes to be world beaters, but it’s just about (the) thinking capacity lapse at the international level…even sometimes at the regional level,†he said.
Wallace added: “Mental preparation has to be better. I think dialogue as well. We need to speak more, converse more with former sportsmen and women. We need to engage our former sportsmen and women to come around and speak to the young people instead of isolating those persons (sportsmen and women) who have made a significant contribution to the sport.â€
Speaking at the 16th Annual Secondary Schools Leadership Symposium held at the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in St Ann’s Port-of-Spain, he said the recent ICC World Cup was an ideal example of mental preparation over athleticism as Australia beat New Zealand for the coveted title.
Australia, he said, lived the cricketer mantra where teams poised for victory took no prisoners. The mind set of the team was not just to beat the opposition, but beat them badly, which was part of their training: to dominate and crush the opposition.
“I go back to Australia and this ICC World Cup. New Zealand won against South Africa. New Zealand had about a week in Australia, in Melbourne before that final. Australia won that semi-final game against India in Sydney and they only had two days to prepare for that final. Michael Clark said for the two days, they did mental preparation. You look at a week and think New Zealand was better prepared, mentally. I don’t think so! I think Australia was better prepared mentally, because the two days was more important for them. They didn’t have a lot of down time like New Zealand had. In preparation sometimes, you only need two days to really do a good job to prepare you for the battle on the field,†Wallace said.
He expressed hope that the West Indies would regain that mentally aptitude, which it lost, but had no illusion about it being restored anytime soon.
Wallace went on to congratulate Phillip Simmons on his appointment as coach of the WI for the next three years and declared that with eight successful years in Irish cricket, expectations were high in the region.
“He has brought Ireland to international recognition. The sad thing about Phil Simmons being appointed coach of the WI team is that England is coming here to the Caribbean and then Australian is coming, and no cricket is being played in T&T. It’s quite sad,†said Wallace.
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