KCA launches High Performance Centre at Palace Oval

KOCHI: The

Kerala Cricket Association

(

KCA

) launched its ambitious player development project

High Performance Centre

(HPC) at

Palace Oval

, Tripunithura on Saturday as part of the centenary celebrations of the founder-secretary of the state association KV Kelappan Thampuran. Kerala cricket great Ravi Achan officially unveiled the HPC in a function attended by an array of former cricketers and renowned coach Dav Whatmore. In a seminar titled 'Looking Beyond 2020', cricketers and association members discussed the way forward for Kerala cricket and deliberated on the challenges it faces.


The HPC, an attempt by the KCA to rejuvenate its Centre of Excellence programme, is modelled on the

National Cricket Academy

(NCA) where the cream of Kerala cricketers across various age groups will be trained under qualified coaches with Whatmore, the present coach of Kerala's senior men's team, overseeing the programme. Former Indian pacer Tinu Yohannan, Kerala women's team's coach Suman Sharma, former Kerala player Tinu Yohannan and coach P Balachandran will be part of the coaching team at the HPC which will function throughout the year.

The historic Palace Oval owned by the

Tripunithura Cricket Club

(TCC) is set to get a facelift with the HPC coming up here. New practice wickets will be laid and the outfield will be renovated. Additional nets will be constructed, bigger fences will be built and there are even plans to install floodlights to conduct matches in the night.

"At the moment, no one is going to take Kerala cricket lightly. We need to look ahead now focus on players for the future. We need to have an integrated support structure, like having a full-time physio, strength and conditioning coach, and analyst and so on. We are preparing a roadmap for the next and coming seasons," said Whatmore, who had helped Kerala reach the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time last season.

Suman Sharma, the women's coach who guided the U-23 team to a historic T20 title, suggested a lot of measures for the benefit for women's cricket in Kerala. "Women's teams needs to play more matches. It will be helpful if we have stadiums exclusively for women's matches," said Suman.

"To perform at the highest level, you need to build a strong foundation. We will be focusing on three areas. Player development, Injury management and support staff," said Tinu, who is expected to be associated full time with the HPC.