Crowe says Narine’s best still to come

Crowe says Narine’s best still to come
JELANI BECKLES Tuesday, June 7 2016



Top qualified English bowling coach Carl Crowe believes the best is still to come from Sunil Narine after the West Indies spinner returned to the international arena with an incredible performance against South Africa in the opening match of the Tri-Nation Series.

Narine grabbed 6/27 in 9.5 overs to lead West Indies to a four-wicket win over South Africa at the Guyana National Stadium in Guyana on Friday.

On Sunday in a six-wicket loss against Australia, Narine displayed another creditable performance when he took 2/36 in ten overs.

Crowe, who is an English Cricket Board Level Four bowling coach, has been helping Narine with his bowling action since he was called last November for an illegal bowling action. Crowe, who expressed his satisfaction with Narine’s progress, said his performance at the 2016 Indian Premier League season was average considering what he has done during his career.

“I think because of his high standard it was an average IPL season,” Crowe stated. “Getting wickets will do his confidence a lot of good. The best is yet to come because he wants to play for a long time. A lot of spinners develop after age 30.” Crowe drew reference to Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg who is still performing at a high level in his forties.

Crowe said Narine always wants to perform for the West Indies and said he was disappointed that he could not participate at the T20 World Cup in India earlier this year, which the West Indies won.

“He is passionate about playing for West Indies. He was disappointed that he was not in the West Indies T20 squad.” Narine was not part of the squad as he did not progress enough to feel comfortable with his new action.

Crowe, who has worked with the English Women’s cricket team in the past, said he speaks to Narine on a regular basis. “We chat on WhatsApp fairly often. We talk about getting better because there is still room for improvement. When we speak I ask him ‘how is the action feeling, are you feeling more comfortable?’” Crowe added, “He works really hard on his game and he can improve. I think he is only 70 percent of where he can reach. When we first met we told each other that although you got called you can bounce back and be successful.” Crowe also credited Narine’s local club Queen’s Park, TT and West Indies coaches for supporting Narine in getting back his career back on course.

The English coach says supporting Narine is important to his success and he plans to give Narine all the support he needs. “We have a good relationship and it is a case of making it work. I need to keep supporting him because I want to make sure he reaches the highest level.”

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