KOCHI: "Cricket-related matters finally became the main subject at an AGM," a Kerala Cricket Association official said after the state body's annual general meeting recently.
The KCA is ready to roll out new ideas and one of them conceived at the AGM was to form developmental squads in age-group cricket. The Kerala Colts XI is a concept where two teams, U-16 and U-19, will be formed to accommodate players who aren't part of the respective state teams.
"We are planning to focus on developing junior players. It is a plan meant for the long term. We need to bring a larger group of players into the system and under the KCA. In the process, we will have a larger pool of players to select from. They would be directly under the eyes of the Kerala Cricket Association and not under any other organisation," former international cricketer Tinu Yohannan said.
Yohannan, who is one of the brains behind the concept, is also the director of KCA's High-Performance Centre (HPC) which will overlook the activities of the colts teams.
"In other states, they get to play a lot of matches at the age-group level. That is lacking in our state. Since matches are less, it is difficult to monitor players and see where they are or what they are doing. When we bring them under a scheme, it is easier to keep a check on them. This can be incorporated into our system. This is a workable formula," said Yohannan.
Dav Whatmore, who is head coach of the Kerala senior team, will play a big role in this project as he will be overseeing the programme designed by the HPC.
"With Whatmore's guidance and advice, we are doing our cricket development. He is a big part of the HPC and our activities and he will also help with the colts team. A tailor-made training programme would be designed for them," said Yohannan.
A preparatory camp will be held in November, for which the short-listing of players has been done. Another camp would be held in February or March and the final selection of the teams will happen around April.
The teams will travel to other states to play against developmental squads of other associations and those teams will be invited to Kerala to play against the colts. "The main idea we have is to make them play as many matches as possible," Yohannan remarked