BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Toby Radford has been blown away by the talent that he has seen so far at the West Indies High Performance Centre.

Hours before the official opening of the HPC on Sunday at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies, the HPC director cooed that “there was a lot of talent” and “a lot of quality” in the programme.

This follows his first week of work with the 15 players enrolled in the inaugural programme at the Three Ws Oval.

“When you start you don’t always know what to expect,” he said. “I have been pleasantly surprised with the players we have assembled here.

“It’s a bit like the old days with big fast bowlers, standing 6-ft-6. We also have some very talented batsmen, so we have a lot to work with in the West Indies.”

He added: “It’s been a full week. We have been doing a lot of video taping — looking at batting techniques, bowling actions, and doing fitness assessments, and we also had vision testing.

“So we are looking to get all that data in, and look to see what each player’s specific needs are. All the feedback starts next week when we look at all the data and details, and give the players their specific programmes.”

Radford indicated that they have already taken a few different approaches to training, and the players have started to inwardly digest them.

“We’ve had a few net sessions, and we want the players to have real purpose to what they are doing,” he said.

“We want to get into the mentality in the nets that, ‘if I’m out, I’m out’. We have been doing that and the players have bought into it.”

He said: “We want the players to value their wickets as if they were playing four-day or five-day cricket, so what I’m trying to do is to make the net sessions as match-like as I can and the players have responded brilliantly. They are enjoying it.”

According to Radford, during the three-month programme this year and next year, there will be lecturers and sports science staff, implementing a holistic coaching programme.

In a drive to create well-rounded, multi-skilled and thinking cricketers, the HPC will offer group and one-on-one support in technical, physical, psychological, tactical, and lifestyle areas of the game.

“No stone will be left unturned, with each player following a programme specifically tailored to their own individual needs,” he said.

“It is imperative that we grasp with both hands this wonderful opportunity to develop all aspects of West Indian cricket, make full use of the high-end equipment, facilities, and staff, and combine our energy and efforts to take West Indies cricket back to where it belongs.”

The first group of players are: Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich (Barbados), Kyle Corbin, Kevin McClean (Combined Campuses & Colleges), Brandon Bess, Ravindra Chandrika, Veerasammy Permaul (Guyana), Nkrumah Bonner, Andre Creary (Jamaica), Kieran Powell, Devon Thomas (Leeward Islands), Shannon Gabriel (Trinidad & Tobago), Keron Cottoy, Delorn Johnson (Windward Islands).