Monday, November 29, 1999

For an MSc in cricket, come to Barbados

News posted by www.newsinfoline.com

While cricket is losing ground in the Caribbean, a new classroom is buzzing with activity around the game. In there, students are taught the management of cricket. At the end of the one-year postgraduate programme, they get a degree from the University of West Indies: an MSc in Cricket Studies.Former West Indies cricketer Colin Croft — who took 125 wickets in a 27-Test career between 1977 and 1982 as one of Clive Lloyd's fearsome fast men — is one of the six students in the current batch. Several West Indian players, both past and present, are being contacted to deliver guest lectures.The unique programme, offering the only postgraduate degree in cricket, is taught at the CLR James Centre for Cricket Research at the University of West Indies' Cave Hill, Barbados, campus. Indian cricket is a key focus area for this academic session: the prestigious Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture will be delivered on the "rise and fall" of the IPL — the "most revolutionary and lucrative tournament in cricket".Says Croft, "It is a very useful degree and experience to explore the management side of cricket. Unfortunately, though, I had to skip a part of the programme due to my commentary commitments. I plan to resume my studies in September and submit the research paper."Introduced four years ago, the PG programme has eight courses, a research project and a practical. According to faculty members, it is designed for people with a minimum required experience of three years in a managerial position in a cricketing environment, or two years in another sport. The course fee? $10,000.The curriculum includes the political and social history of West Indies cricket, contemporary management and financial issues in the West Indies, sports psychology, leadership and human resource management, cricketers' text and testimonies, cricket and West Indies nationalism.According to university officials, the course has been developed in response to the need for improved competency in management and reproduction of excellence in cricket culture. Among the objectives listed is the need to develop managerial talent and contribute to the regional requirement for highly qualified persons in the field of cricket management, besides fostering an appreciation of the role of cricket in West Indian society.With a dedicated faculty of 12, the programme is picking up slowly, says Akhentoolove Corbin, one of the instructors. "We have already established a huge library and there's more awareness now on the demand for professionally trained people to handle the management side of cricket."Corbin says there's a "significant" reference to Indian cricket in the programme. Among others, the courses have references to Sunil Gavaskar, GR Vishwanath, Ajit Wadekar and his team (that beat the Windies in 1971), Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev's Devils of 1983."Right now, there's a specific bias and interest pertaining only to West Indies cricket," Corbin says. "But slowly there are plans to gather more of world cricket." The campus is at present being used by eight teams in the World T20. So even as the teams gear up for the last stages of the tournament, a set of students is busy preparing for another examination in a week's time — in cricket studies.

News posted by www.newsinfoline.com

Click here to read more news from www.newsinfoline.com
Please follow our blogs

newsinfolinephotogallery
prabugallery
newsinfolinephotogallery1

photogallery1

No comments:

Post a Comment