Port of Spain, Trinidad — Just weeks after West Indies spinner Sunil Narine underwent testing at the International Cricket Council (ICC) accredited University of Loughborough Bio-Mechanical testing facility, the University of T&T (UTT) is positioning itself to host similar facilities to support not only regional cricket, but all competitive sporting teams across the Caribbean.
This was revealed by National Sport Ambassador and Senior Manager of Sports at UTT, Daren Ganga. The former Test opener also got the ear of Dr Guy Jackson, Operations Manager of the National Cricket Performance Centre of the English Cricket Board (ECB), a facility that is hosted by the Loughborough University. Dr Jackson indicated that he will discuss with the ECB and the WICB to look at ways of supporting this venture.
WICB President David Cameron has already been briefed on the project and post tour meetings will flesh out the details, to bring the one-of-a-kind facility to the Caribbean.
At the conclusion of the meeting yesterday, Ganga told T&T Guardian: “This is ground breaking stuff for our sports and more particularly for cricket in the region. It will give hope to our people so we cannot be embarrassed on the international stage, as is the case now.”
Loughborough University is considered one of the best testing and assessment centres worldwide for cricket, with bowlers from every Test playing country being assessed at their facilities. Dr Mark King, lead bio-mechanist at LU Sports Science Lab, presented to the UTT team, drawing reference to the benefits of assessing bowlers, not only to improve performance but also to reduce injury.
He stated that bowlers, and more so the faster bowlers like those in the West Indies, needed to understand the proper use of speed, run up, front foot force and arm action to strengthen their bowling.
No such research and development facilities currently exist in the Caribbean. Details of the meeting yesterday revealed that the discussions centered around the establishment of two Sport Labs at UTT, Trinidad—a Physiology and a Biomechanical Labs.
UTT is striving to be a leader in sport science and has already received initial support from the President of the West Indies Players Association Wavell Hinds and President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Brian Lewis in this regard.