Manders should bring a new energy to the squad

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7: I’m disappointed to see David Moore is going at the end of his contract. It’s right before the critical ICC Division Three Tournament, but he will still be around in March to help us with the Twenty20 tournament.

Even though the format is different, at least we are getting some practice matches ahead of the 50 overs tournament.

We don’t want to be playing too much cricket over four or five months because players will suffer from burnout.

So the Twenty20 will come at the right time. We’ll get one last bit of expertise from coach Moore and since he is leaving, I’m sure he won’t hold back on what he thinks.

Moore is here for the next six months and I am sure he will give everything he has.

He won’t fade into the background just because he is leaving.

Moore won’t let things slide because he has pride and integrity and he wants to leave the programme in the best possible shape.

Arnold Manders will be taking over for the Division 3 Tournament and he was a pretty good cricketer in his time.

He coached Western Stars to a lot of titles in his time. He’s also been an administrator and Arnold has a lot of knowledge about the sport.

I’ve never played under him, but I’ve played with him.

Arnold was a very technical player. He thought about how he was going to bat, bowl and field. He took a lot of wickets as a bowler even though he did not move the ball too much.

When you have those sort of qualities as a player, you turn out to be a good coach. It just becomes a matter of transferring those ideas and qualities to the players.

The players should be able to buy into his philosophy as there is time between now and the tournament. He should help create a new energy as he comes onboard.

A change of coach isn’t necessarily a bad thing in front of this tournament. The team is going to be changing with a lot of younger guys coming in to the squad.

With a new coach, it is easier for the players to buy in to a new philosophy.

We also have a new captain in Stephen Outerbridge so together that can help set out the new agenda for the rest of the players to follow.

If we want to go with a local coach to head the national programme, then we should be doing more to make sure every club has several qualified coaches.

The wider we spread our base of qualified coaches, the better the overall programme will be.

It will lead to us being spoiled with choice when choosing a head coach.

But the key is getting as many qualified coaches as possible.

If the game is going to grow, we need more players earning their qualifications as coaches.

We’ve taken this for granted for too long. The Bermuda Cricket Board has done their part by holding coaching courses, but it always has not been taken up by the clubs or the players.

We might need to make this mandatory to help this become a reality. There might have to be some sort of punitive measure, like fines, to get them involved and onboard with this.

Lionel Cann is a former national team member and is the coach of Warwick Workman’s Club.