West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine is to receive help from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs in his bid to regain acceptance into international cricket.
The TT and West Indies off-spinner, banned last year by the International Cricket Council for an illegal action in all of his deliveries, has not played any ICC-sanctioned cricket since the West Indies’ One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on November 7 last year.
Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Darryl Smith will outline the plan to assist the 27-year-old during a news conference at the ministry’s offices today.
That assistance will be in the form of elite rehabilitative coaching.
A news release yesterday said the ministry’s role will be to facilitate and advance Narine’s return to regional and international cricket. It noted that Narine has been one of the most prolific slow bowlers in the shorter versions of the game, for Trinidad and Tobago, the West Indies and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Earlier this week, the TT Cricket Board (TT CB) confirmed that even as he undergoes rehabilitative work on his bowling action, Narine will be allowed to play for his local club, Queen’s Park, in the Premier One League competitions this season.
In addition to Queen’s Park coach David Furlonge and national assistant coach Kelvin Williams, Narine has been working with bowling consultant Carl Crowe, a former right-arm offbreak bowler for English clubs Berkshire and Leicestershire and a former assistant coach of the England Women’s Cricket team.
Narine has experienced phenomenal success in the shorter forms of the game. In 55 One- Day Internationals, he has taken 77 wickets at an average of 26.05 runs and a miserly economy rate of 4.07; in 34 Twenty20 Internationals he has claimed 40 wickets at just 17.75 and a 5.69 economy rate.