http://newsday.co.tt/sport/0,181101.htmlFormer TT youth star boosts Under19s
Monday, July 22 2013
TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Under-19 cricketers were the recent beneficiaries of a big boost when they participated in an interactive session conducted by one of TTs former outstanding young players.
The session was organised by president of the TT Cricket Board president Azim Bassarath who was present for the occasion on Saturday at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre in Balmain, Couva.
The Under-19s are preparing for the regional West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) tournament which starts next week in St Kitts. They are being coached by Kelvin Williams, director of youth development and managed by former national player Roland Sampath.
In his opening remarks Bassarath said the presenter Zaheer Reaz Ali possessed impeccable credentials and was an ideal candidate to speak to the boys on the topic “Attaining Success In Cricket.”
Bassarath said he thought it was important that someone of Ali’s calibre and credentials be made available to give some important insights and the benefit of his experience to the youngsters on the verge of selection for the senior national team.
“We appreciate the great work the manager has been doing along with the technical staff. However Zaheer is very knowledgeable and despite having lost him to the development of his legal career I think he still has a great contribution to make,” said Bassarath.
Ali is a police officer and during his youthful days captained the national Under-15 and Under-19 teams and those regional teams at two World Cups. He showed great promise which led to him being called up for the West Indies team before even being selected to represent TT.
In his opening remarks Ali complimented TT cricket boss Bassarath for recognising the importance of giving the young cricketers the advantage of mental preparation before the important tournament.
In a very interesting interactive PowerPoint display Ali impressed upon the boys the fundamentals of playing as a successful team key to which is showing respect for each others religions and cultures.
Ali said it was important that the players set individual goals and that they communicate with each other on and off the field to build a cohesive unit that will have the focus to execute their strategy in order to win the regional tournament.
At the end of the presentation which lasted just over an hour each player was given an opportunity to address their peers on what aspect of the presentation made the biggest impression on them during the session.
They were all in agreement that the exercise had proven very beneficial and the TT Cricket Board president also expressed his opinion that Ali had done a remarkable job in the short time he was available for.
