BENNET KING PRAISES CLIVE LLOYD

Bennett King could not have been far from pulling on the maroon gear when his team were down to ten fit men for a brief while during West Indies' match against Australia in Mumbai. Vinayak Samant, the former Mumbai cricketer and current vice-captain of the Cricket Club of India team, did fielding duties, although only for two overs, but as humbled as he would have been to be on the field with those who had played hundreds of international games, he would have been more at home than King. Samant's played 61 first-class matches to King's 0. But, as is fast becoming the trend in international cricket, King is coach not because of how much cricket he played, but because of what he can teach.

A promising winger, rugby was always King's first sport, although he did play club cricket for Northern Suburbs in Queensland's grade cricket 24 times. But just as he was making a name for himself in rugby, and received an invitation to join the Gold Coast Giants, a knee injury that needed extensive reconstructive surgery ended his career in competitive sport.

A physical education teacher by profession, King's forays into cricket began when he joined Queensland Cricket as a development officer. In 1999-2000, during King's first year as coach of the Queensland Bulls, they won the Pura Cup, and would repeat the feat again two years on. Later he accepted a position as head coach at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Australia - the premier finishing school for first-class cricketers in the country.

Today, after more than two tumultuous years as coach of the West Indian team, the job seems to rest lightly on his shoulders. "Some countries are blessed with lot of resources and financial assistance," he said, talking to the media three days before his side takes on India at Ahmedabad. "What we aim for is it to be nice and creative and make the most of what we do. On an economy scale, we try and make the most of it. The players certainly have been getting their batting time or their bowling time. I believe players benefit the most from one-on-one attention, and sometimes on tour that is spread a bit thin as the ratio of staff to players is 1 to 8 or so."

Earlier in the tournament Brian Lara spoke of the financial difficulties West Indies faced. "We're going to get a substantial influx of funds during the World Cup. It's how we utilise that money that's important. It has to be put back in cricket in a sustainable manner," he had said. And now King is singing pretty much from the same hymn sheet.

When you listen to King speak, there are several commonalities in the language he uses to that of a certain type of coach in world cricket. He talks of flexibility, of building a group, of making the most of resources etc. Much of it is management speak. And with this in mind, you have to commend the West Indian board for bringing Clive Lloyd on board to travel and stay with the team during the Champions Trophy, as he brings with him 7515 Test runs, the knowledge of how to beat the best, and do so consistently, apart from a fund of stories.

"We encourage players interacting with him and spending as much time as they can with him," said King. "We want him to look at things and to say what he feels. We're always encouraging the players to listen to what he has to say. And they do listen, spending a lot of time in his room. It is a case of how Clive Lloyd has been effective as a cricketer."

Some time ago, India tried a similar experiment, when John Wright was the coach, using Sunil Gavaskar as a batting consultant. But that did not work as well as everyone might have expected, with their being some confusion about the roles different people would play, and Wright's authority being eroded to some extent. King has a different story to tell of his association with Lloyd. "He has been very good. He tells the boys stories from when he played, and is now helping around in the nets," he said. "Lloyd gives his ideas to the players. I certainly encourage him to keep talking with the players and keep teaching them about things that happened in the past. It certainly helps players to learn about cricket history."

When King took over as coach as the West Indian team, there was certainly some resistance, as an outsider, and one who hadn't even played first-class cricket, was taking a job that had been held by some of the biggest names in Caribbean cricket. Slowly but surely he is gaining acceptance in the islands, and a strong showing in this Champions Trophy will only make him more comfortable in his seat as coach

 

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