I will instill team discipline

James Waindi spoke to new national team cricket coach Eldine Baptiste

QUESTION: Welcome to Kenya coach. This is your first time in the country and your first time with the players what has been your observation?

ANSWER: Thank you, it is home away from home already. I have talked to the players. I introduced myself and at least we speak one language, which is cricket. The teams’ mood is high and I hope the players keep it up.

QUESTION: Briefly tell us about your self, when you started cricket and your career?

ANSWER: Ok, I hope you already know my name by now, if not I’m called Eldine Baptiste and I started playing cricket at age six. I have 30 years experience as a player cum coach and I hope to continue building on my career. I have played in England, Australia, West Indies and India and I like to win. I’m a full coach, out and out coach and I like leading from the front, I hope to transfer my expertise in batting, bowling, fielding and other necessary areas while with the team.

QUESTION: How many Test and One Day International (ODI) matches did you play for West Indies during your time as a player?

ANSWER: I played 10 Test matches and 43 ODI’s. We won all the 10 Test matches I played in and out of the 43 ODI’s I featured in we won 38 matches, so I always consider myself a winner both as a player and as a coach and that is what I want to transfer to the Kenyan team.

QUESTION: You are taking over the Kenyan team at a time when the standards of the sport have gone really down and fans who had lost hope would certainly expect you to turn everything round, how do take the challenge?

ANSWER: Well we have to start with the basics. Already there is a foundation in the team and that would not be hard. The team also has to be disciplined, committed and I have to work extra hard, because this is a job like any other job and I don’t think anyone would like to joke with his work. Expectations can be high, but there is no short cut to success. Tiger Woods has maintained his position as the best golfer in the word for many years because he hits at least 1,000 golf balls every day, so you can just reap what you sow.

QUESTION: What is your strategy for the team and your short and long term plans?

ANSWER: For me everything is basics. Discipline first, followed by commitment and hard work, everyone craves to be in the national team all over the world so a player should have the pride of playing for Kenya. I have taken a few seconds to look and observe the team and I would like to keep my observations to myself, but one thing I would do is to introduce one-on-one sessions with the players to work on their strengths and weaknesses. My goal with the team is to become a winning coach in the run-up to the 2011 World Cup because I like being associated with success. As a player I made sure I scored at least a century or picked at least five wickets in every league match.

QUESTION: There have been concerns of the age of some players in the team. Would there be an overhaul?

ANSWER: There has always been the need of balance in every team, but I have no problem with the age of some one, when you are 40 years and you can play, perfect and when you are 12 years old and you can play you would certainly be in my team. I started playing at six and I played against people who were 30 years old. I believe everyone has to play against people better than them to progress or else you would be stagnant.

QUESTION: Are you comfortable with the facilities?

ANSWER: I haven’t had a look at all the facilities because this is just my first day, but if there will be something missing, we can adopt or improvise. For instance, I came from a country where there are poor grounds that you can’t compare to this one in Aga Khan but we still played cricket, it is just a matter of adopting. What I know is that I have to perform, the players have to perform as well as the cricket board and Cricket Kenya.