Photo Credit: Oman Cricket
Oman Cricket (OC) got a thumbs up from none other than a World Cup-winning coach and South African great Gary Kirsten.
Following the conclusion of the second Gary Kirsten Cricket (GKC) camp at the Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat on Saturday, Kirsten said that he “was really encouraged with the talent at the Oman Cricket Academy.”
GKC in cooperation with OC successfully organised the second ever camp in Oman after hosting the inaugural camp last year.
During the last few days, Kirsten and his coaching staff organised a grassroots camp besides holding a CoachEd coaches training and a high-performance camp for under-14 and under-19 cricketers.
Another highlight of this edition was a talk session by Kirsten emphasising the role of parents in the success story of their children.
The South African great said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the last few days in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman Cricket is doing a great job. I was really encouraged with the talent I watched at the Oman Cricket Academy.
“The young cricketers showed great enthusiasm and many of them displayed good potential to grow with their abilities.”
A total of 132 participants took part in various sessions over the five days and included 12 coaches for the CoachEd training. Twenty aspiring cricketers joined the grassroots camp while the maximum 60 attended the high-performance under-14 camp held over three days. Another group of 40 cricketers took part in the under-19 high-performance camp.
Kirsten said: “For me as a coach from another country, it is great to watch the talent in Oman. Importantly, going forward, the cricketers are being looked after very well by Oman Cricket. The cricketers can progress through such a system and it is going to make a big difference to cricket in Oman.”
The coach, who was at the helm of Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, added: “The things that impressed me among the young players were their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.”
Kirsten was briefed about the activities at Oman Cricket by Duleep Mendis, chief development officer, Evert Laubscher, OCA manager and national team trainer, and other officials.
Meanwhile, Varun Khimji, OC board advisor, said: “The partnership with GKC is a long-term one, with plans for trips to cricketing destinations abroad where Oman players are given better exposure and competition. The association with GKC is sure to benefit our boys, be it cricketing knowledge, coaching, and playing.”
Gary Kirsten was accompanied by two other GKC coaches – Ryan Van Niekerk and Gareth Von Hoesslin – during the camp. Both Van Niekerk and Von Hoesslin have been part of GKC’s first camp which was successfully organised in October 2022.
Since his retirement in 2004, Kirsten, a former opening batter, has devoted his time to running GKC, coaching international teams and franchises and tasted tremendous success, leading India to a World Cup title in 2011 and as a mentor of Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022.
