TORONTO, Ontario (CMC):

West Indies cricket captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has issued some stinging comments about former coach Bennett King, describing the Australian as "one of the worst coaches" he has ever had.

King quit his job as West Indies coach when the team exited the 2007 Cricket World Cup (CWC) after a disastrous run in the Super-8 stage in April, and Sarwan did not think much of his work.

"He's one of the worst coaches I have had. The coach was not as open as I would have liked and he was definitely not firm enough," added Sarwan, who spent a week in Canada where he had specialised treatment on his injured shoulder.

Too aggressive

The 27-year-old Sarwan implied that King was unable to get the best out of some players because his interaction with them was too aggressive.

"He was also very aggres-sive and vocally abusive to certain players to the point where he even threatened them. Obviously, this made those players very uncom-fortable," Sarwan said.

Cognisant of the need to improve relations between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), Sarwan telephoned new board president Julian Hunte last week to congratulate him.

"We had a very good conversation and he's looking forward to us getting together" said Sarwan. "It's vital that the board and the players get on the same page and I am very encouraged that Mr. Hunte has asked the WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine to become a non-member director. That's a step in the right direction and it shows a commitment on the part of the board to work closely with the WIPA."

Training camp

When he meets with Hunte, Sarwan intends to suggest that West Indies teams participate in a training camp prior to international engagements.

"Our preparation leading up to this year's World Cup was not good and it hurt us," Sarwan pointed out. "I think it's absolutely critical that we get together for a 10-12 day camp in either Trinidad and Tobago or Barbados, which in my opinion have the best practice facilities in the region. I also think it's important that we get a coach, manager and trainer in place for the long term."

The contract of David Moore, who replaced King as interim coach after the World Cup, expires on November 30 while strength and condi-tioning coordinator Bryce Cavanagh quit in the middle of last year's Pakistan series and has not been replaced.

Former West Indies wicket-keeper Michael Findlay was appointed manager for the just-concluded England tour.

Averaging 38.76 in 67 Tests with just nine centuries, Sarwan acknowledges that he needs to become a consistent scorer.

"I can say that I have robbed myself of close to 1,500 runs in the past three years," said the talented batsman who became the youngest West Indian first-class cricketer at age 15 years and 245 days old when he represented Guyana against Barbados in a Red Stripe Cup match in 1996. "I know that I have to get my average to around the late 40s or even to 50 which would be great.