Islandsun Newspaper - British Virgin Islands

December 06 2003

WICB brings local score keepers in line with regional counterparts
BY DEAN GREENAWAY

On numerous occasions when veteran score keeper Yvonne Daniel traveled over the last 15 years to score Leeward Islands Cricket Association matches or when other score keepers visited, she often times noted there would be some confusion in the scores booth regarding one referees' signal in particular.

Over the weekend, Daniel was among six score keepers participating in a West Indies Cricket Board sponsored score keepers' clinic held at the Treasure Isle Hotel, aimed at standardizing scoring across the region.

Daniel who has been scoring since her father dropped the book in her lap 30 years ago and told her to score, said the course assisted her in clarifying that one confusing signal. "Sometimes a referee signals no ball and he puts his hand up and we didn't know what kind of signal it was, whether it was a no ball or bye," Daniels said after completing the course on Monday night. "We learnt that if the batsman doesn't hit the ball, that's why the umpire put their hand up after they signal no ball. That was important for me."

The two day course was facilitated by Barbados' Danley Boxhill, who has been conducting similar regional courses for the WICB since late November and will complete his task by early January. "It's a new system and obviously, scorers have to understand certain ways of using the system for it to be effective. What they'll find is that the system is not only more informative but simpler. Yon only make one single entry when a ball is bowled. Previously, you made a minimum of two entries," Boxhill explained, noting the main thing happens at the end of the over, the fall of a wicket or an interval. "It's an ongoing system where you accumulate at the end of each event which means you are up to date. If any information is required you can read it off at any point in time," Boxhill added. "That is what makes this system very quick. It has to balance itself as you go along because it's designed that way. That then adds to the accuracy as well by capturing the information accurately which is where you focus onthe action.

Those two areas to my mind make the system stand alone as being better than most other systems." Boxhill said the WICB approved the system because they see how it can develop and benefit cricket as the information can help the various regional associations and boards improve the game. "The first step in improving anything, whether is a business or sports, is having accurate and appropriate information that it can help you to plan strategies, design programs and observe strengths and weaknesses. This is what we need to do in the West Indies to catch up with the rest of the world," Boxhill noted.

"We need to bring our head into the game a lot more. We have the talent, but certainly talent alone isn't going to do it. It is how we use the talent we have that is going to get us back to the top and I think this is the first stage. At all levels, from junior levels right up, we'll be able to capture information on them and help develop the youngsters all the way up and not wait until they get to the top, observe their weaknesses and then try to change them at that point in time. Therefore, I think it's a tool that can be useful from the schools right up to test level."

Among the group was Virgin Gorda's Gloria Gibson who keeps scores for her team at home and when they travel. She said the course was extremely informative. "I learnt a lot about the game and more about the aspects of scoring and how important it is to have the accurate information where scoring is concerned."