Bennett King, the Australian who is the first foreigner to fill the post of coach.

West Indies coach Bennett King (left) chatting with manager Tony Howard in the Club Caribbean Lounge at the Grantley Adams International Airport on February 07, 2006

Date January 17, 2006
by PHILIP SPOONER Compliments of the Nation News

"THE WORLD is your oyster."

The motivational words to the West Indies Under-19 cricket team on Sunday came from West Indies senior team coach Bennett King, when he visited the youngsters' dressing room.

King was at the Cricket Development Centre in Trinidad and also told the lads their performances would be crucial.

Coach of the Under-19s, Roddy Estwick, agreed with King and acknowledged yesterday that winning the International Cricket Council's Youth World Cup was important, but the development of the next generation of West Indies cricketers was just as essential.

With this in mind, the West Indies Under-19 team will be out to ensure that they stick to the basics of the game and zero in on the key components of becoming top-flight cricketers when they play in the World Cup, Estwick added.

"If we can get them to come back better than when they left that's great. We are going to aim to win, but if we get substantial improvement in every player, I would be happy and I would say we were successful," Estwick said at the airport as the team prepared to fly out to London.

Many opportunities

"It's all about how they perform, especially under pressure. Bennett came on Sunday, and told them 'if you perform you have a chance'. There are many opportunities now in West Indies cricket. If they don't make the full tour, we have the 'A' team tour to England in the summer and that can open many doors."

The 14 players and three officials will arrive in London this morning before moving on to Pakistan, where they will play five One-Day matches against Pakistan Under-19s in Karachi from January 18 to 29.

The Youth World Cup will be played from February 5 to 20 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The West Indies were beaten by Pakistan in the final of the last World Cup which was played in Bangladesh in March 2004.

Team manager Jimmy Adams said he was delighted to be working with the young players and guiding the next generation of West Indies cricket.

"What we have here is a bright, talented and ambitious group of players," said Adams, who was a member of the West Indies team to the first Youth World Cup in Australia in 1988.

"This will be one of the best tours a young player can go on," the former West Indies skipper said. "It will be the first time outside of the Caribbean for a lot of them and will be great preparation for the ones who will eventually move on to bigger and better things in the future."

* philipspooner@nationnews.com

Date November 01, 2005 Compliments of the Nation News

West Indies coach Bennett King (left) seen here having a word with his fastest bowler, Tino Best, in Brisbane during a training session in preparation for the first Test against Australia.

West Indies coach Bennett King has defended his cricketers against claims by fast bowling great Michael Holding of an attitude problem ahead of the opening Test against Australia.

Holding has criticised the current touring party, accusing the squad of not focusing on cricket and on representing the West Indies.

But King has defended his players and questioned Holding's knowledge of the contemporary Windies squad.

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