Sagicor HPC pleased with Bangladesh tour

Sagicor High Performance Centre captain, Carlos Brathwaite,
speaking to members of the media at the Grantley Adams International Airport’s
Arrivals area after returning from a month-long tour of Bangladesh.

AFTER their first campaign under a new head coach, the Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC), although not being wildly successful, are pleased with their performances in the month-long Bangladesh tour. Returning to the Caribbean on Monday, the players of the HPC landed at the Grantley Adams International Airport just shy of 2 p.m. before returning to their respective homes.

Speaking to members of the media on Monday, newly appointed captain Carlos Brathwaite explained that the major objectives of the programme, although slow in coming, are being achieved.

“As a team we are pleased and before we left I spoke about the two aims of the tour being progression and winning. We won two games and we were hampered by rain in another two that we surely would have won so winning was taken care of. Progression, as well, was taken care of. As a fielding unit and a bowling unit we did exceptionally and the batters still need a little development but this tour would have opened their eyes to what they need to work on now that they are back in the Caribbean,” Brathwaite said.

Stating that three months were spent in preparation for the tour, Brathwaite went on to say that the next step for members of the team was to get back to work.

“The next time we come into competition as a team or individually, we will know what we need to work on from the experiences that we got in Bangladesh. My plan is to go back to the nets and work hard on what I need to work on to make it to the next level. Hopefully all the guys do the same and the next time we come into competition, we will show that improvement as a team and as individuals,” he said.

After his first foray as head coach, Graeme West stated that he was happy with the team’s effort and that he was especially pleased that the players would have come away with a bit more experience and exposure. Going on to mention that there were few shortcomings from his team, West said that the physical preparation ahead of the tour did what was required of it.

“In terms of the batters, we always knew it was going to be challenging. We talked about difficulty with the climate and the heat and that’s what you need to do if you’re going to bat for long periods of time and we saw that at the start of the tour but we didn’t see it quite so much in the second 4-Day game and that’s something that we need to reflect on and work on. But I think that the physical work that the guys have undertaken before they went really looked after them. We had no players miss a game due to injury and we maintained our intensity and our skill level throughout the tour,” West said. (MP)