Miller hoping to lift young spinners to the next level

Former Jamaica and West Indies left-arm spinner Nikita Miller is currently in Antigua and Barbuda as part of a coaching group that has been tasked to prepare the next crop of West Indies Under-19 players who are getting ready for next year’s ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup.

Following his stint with the West Indies Under-23 Academy team last year, Miller, who has over 530 first-class wickets under his belt, has received rave reviews as a coach and was contacted to continue working with the Rising Stars Under-19 group which includes 29 of the best young regional talent.

For Miller, the appointment is just another feather in his cap for his fledgling coaching career.

“By being chosen it shows that I am doing something good. The reviews have been good and it also helped that I was a part of the coaching set-up for the Jamaica Scorpions who won the Super 50 Cup,” said Miller.

Having featured in two ICC World Cups in 2011 and 2015, Miller knows all too well what his young charges will face at the global showpiece, and he is keen to impart his vast knowledge of left-arm leg-spin bowling to Nathan Sealy of Barbados, Golcharan Chulai of Guyana and Andrew Rambaran of Trinidad & Tobago, who all bowl left-arm leg spin.

“The reception from the youngsters has been good. I let them know that they should come with a mindset to be open to learning because there is a lot of talent in the camp.”

Miller is also working with young Jamaican leg-spinner Tamarie Redwood as well as the Windward Islands off-spinner Tarrique Edwards and Leeward Islands leg-spinner Micah McKenzie.

Having held assistant coaching roles with the Scorpions and the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, Miller says he hopes to one day hold down a head coaching job, but for now, he is enjoying his stint as a specialist spin coach and working with the young talent across the region.

“If I can see any of these spinners playing regional cricket for their senior franchise, that would be a success for me as a coach. I would love to see them applying and implementing the stuff that we worked on successfully and to me, that would mean I have done my job.”

The Rising Stars Under-19s High-Performance camp is currently geared towards targeted coaching sessions and physical preparations as well off-field development programmes for youngsters. The camp which started on February 21 will run until March 9. The camp will also feature 50-over matches at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on February 25 and March 1, 5 and 8.