Top things to know
- Cricket West Indies' High-Performance Batting Tour was completing its fifth leg in Jamaica, having begun on September 24.
- The programme has reached approximately 60 emerging batters and dozens of regional coaches across the Windward Islands, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica.
- The tour is led by newly appointed CWI Batting Consultant Bob Carter and High-Performance Coach Rohan Nurse.
- Carter's approach focuses on small adjustments rather than wholesale technical changes, an ethos praised by regional coaches.
- The final leg is scheduled for Antigua from October 23 to 26.
- Players and coaches have requested longer, more frequent camps and expansion to younger age groups and female players.
Cricket West Indies' High-Performance Batting Tour was completing its fifth leg in Jamaica on Monday, with the programme having reached approximately 60 emerging batters and dozens of regional coaches since it began on September 24, according to the Caribbean Media Corporation.
The tour, led by newly appointed CWI Batting Consultant Bob Carter and High-Performance Coach Rohan Nurse, has already visited the Windward Islands, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Its final leg is scheduled for Antigua from October 23 to 26, CMC reported.
The four-day camps are designed to sharpen the skills of the region's most promising talent while building the capacity of local coaches. A central feature has been Carter's approach to player development, which emphasises small adjustments rather than wholesale changes to a batter's technique.
"No one likes change, but people don't mind tweaking something," Carter said. "My approach is to identify the one per cent improvement that could make all the difference to a player's performance and output."
The methodology has drawn praise from coaches across the territories. A Barbados coach credited Carter with "underscoring simplicity and holding players to a high standard," while a coach in Guyana noted the timeless nature of the advice: "The fundamentals don't change. How you execute that is how you will become successful or remain successful."
Players have pointed to the intensity and structure of the sessions as a standout feature. West Indies under-19 top-order batsman Zachary Carter said the standard was higher than his regular training.
"The intensity and standards of the sessions were higher than what I'm used to," he said. "They were more structured and challenging, with a strong focus on technique, decision-making, and my bat swing."
Shadrack Descarte, a St. Lucia and Windward Islands all-rounder, said he came away with renewed confidence.
"I came away confident that I have what it takes to perform well and adapt to any playing conditions," he stated. "It simply requires a dedicated approach to how we train."
The benefits have extended beyond the players, with local coaches progressing from observation to active coaching over the four days. Cleton Burnett, a CWI Pathway Coach in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, highlighted the value of the collaborative approach.
"A lot of the things he spoke about are not necessarily new knowledge in terms of technique, but the methods, and how we go about assisting players, not necessarily changing them but, as he would say very often, tweaking," Burnett said.
Carter believes the programme has provided a sustainable model for territories to adopt.
"They don't have to rely on CWI all the time," he said. "There are some excellent coaches in the region, and they have now seen what a four-day programme looks like. We've given them a template, so all they need to do now is replicate that approach."
According to CMC, players and coaches have requested longer and more frequent camps, as well as an expansion of the programme to include younger age groups and female players.