Warwick has potential

FRIDAY, APR. 20: Things are looking good at Warwick. I really didn’t know what to expect when I took over the captaincy of the team. I have never taken over such a young team before — most of them are still in school except for the transfers.

We acquired three new players — Streaker Adams, David Lovell and Daniel Caines.

It’s helping having them on the squad.

We’ve gone back to the basics with a lot of tennis ball work because the rest of the team is from 15- to 17-year-olds.

They have been basically playing in the Under-15 League and Under-17 League in the past and filling in at the senior team, so they do have some experience at a higher level, but not all the development has been there.

I want to help them have the fundamentals so they can compete and know that they can do well against the adults.

That’s what is being worked on.

We’re establishing a professional attitude at the Warwick Club from the management and executive on down. We want to set high standards for everyone to reach for.

Discipline is going to be key. We want the young players to know it is about developing the right habits and winning is not the most important thing. We want to win, but we want it to be based on solid cricket principles.

Part of my buy-in to go to Warwick was to develop them as good young citizens.

This year we will concentrate on developing them and if we can grab a couple of victories so they can taste what it is like to win at the senior level, we’ll have a successful season.

They have won a lot of games at the Under-15 and Under-17 level, but we want to give them a taste of that at the senior level.

We want them to know they can succeed at the higher level.

They will get better as the season progresses.

I can already see three or four of them have the potential to play for the senior national team in the future.

These guys are like sponges. Youngsters are much easier to coach than senior players who are already set in their ways.

In three to four years when they are 19- to 20-years-old, they will be competitive and ready to challenge for the First division title.

They will be like St David’s from the OJ Pitcher-Delyone Borden era. If we can keep them together they have that kind of potential.

It’s exciting for me to work with this kind of talent that is here at Warwick.

But right now, we want them to continue to love the game of cricket.