The 4Milla Academy set to begin operations on Saturday, November 13, intends to target young boys and girls of ages five-18, helping them develop into the next set of young cricketers.
The Academy will be based at the Melbourne Cricket Club in Kingston.
“This is something I have been thinking about prior to my retirement. I want to give back and this is a progressive environment for the youngsters,” said Miller, who is currently pursuing the Level III Coaches course, coordinated by Cricket West Indies.
Once open, the academy will host sessions ranging from 60 - 90 minutes and will focus on three main groups of girls and boys. The beginners, five to 10 years old, will have one session starting at 9:30 am; while the intermediates and juniors, will have 90-minute sessions that start at 11:00 am.
Miller, 39, played one Test for the West Indies against Bangladesh in 2009 as well as 50 One Day Internationals and took 45 wickets after making his debut against Australia in July 2008. He played his last ODI for the West Indies against Afghanistan in March 2018.
However, it is at the First Class level that Miller shone brightest taking 538 wickets.
He is currently a part of the coaching staff of the Trinbago Knight Riders and works occasionally with the Jamaican team.
The Jamaicans will be looking to claim their first title since 2012 and should enter the match with some confidence after a strong batting performance against Guyana on Thursday, in the semi-finals, and four straight wins.
Miller knows, however, that the challenge will be different against an in-form Trinidad and Tobago who have lost just once this season.
“We will have to plan for Trinidad’s game differently. We have gone to a couple of their games and looked at some footage and we'll plan our approach,” Miller said ahead of the game.
Trinidad and Tobago were the zone A winners after finishing ahead of Guyana, while Jamaica won zone B ahead of the Leeward Islands.
“We’re looking forward to it we are not going into that game overconfident. We know that they are playing good cricket and they know that we are playing good cricket as well,” Miller added.
The Jamaicans managed to defeat Trinidad and Tobago in the final the last time they won the trophy.
Captain Rovman Powell ended the tournament with the highest aggregate of 346 runs, just four more than Red Force captain Nicholas Pooran (342) and nine more than his teammate Brandon King (337). But it was success of his bowlers that led the Scorpions to their first regional 50-over title since 2012 when Tamar Lambert led Jamaica to victory.
Four Jamaican Scorpion bowlers are among the top 10 wicket takers in the tournament – Odean Smith and Nicholson Gordon each took 15 wickets and shared the prize of leading wicket taker with Red Force and former West Indies paceman Shannon Gabriel. Not far behind were spinner Dennis Bulli with 14 wickets and Jeavor Royal with 12.
Asked about the impact of Smith and Gordon, Powell said the two pace bowlers were key to the team’s success this season.
“They were very, very important in the sense that every time I gave them the ball they delivered right throughout the tournament,” he said.
“As a captain, it is very good when you find bowlers that give you wickets in crucial times of the game and both of them have been fantastic throughout the entire tournament. Not the most fast-bowling friendly wickets to be honest but they have been very good.”
Smith took his 15 wickets at an average of 19.26 and economy of 5.25 wicket while Gordon was slightly more expensive at 21.26 and economy of 5.94.
Bulli snared wickets at an average of 18.64 and economy of 4.75 while Royal took his 12 wickets at an average of 21.91 and economy of 3.92.
Meanwhile, the team has been praised by the Jamaica Cricket Association on its triumphant season.
The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) congratulates our national senior men’s team “The Jamaica Scorpions” on winning the regional CG United Super 50 Championship. This achievement is the end product of teamwork, intense preparation and exemplary leadership,” said President Billy Heaven in a statement released on Sunday.
“Under the astute leadership of Captain Rovman Powell and guidance of Head Coach Andrew Richardson and Assistant Coach Nikita Miller, the world witnessed the Jamaica Scorpions win five games back to back. The collective performance of the entire team has made Jamaica proud.”
According to Heaven, strategic planning by the JCA that places emphasis on a player centric approach built an ‘exceptional team’ that claimed the trophy in a year when Jamaica celebrates its 60th year of independence.
“Cricket is known as the Gentleman’s Sport and on November 19, 2022, as the world celebrated International Men’s Day, Jamaica Scorpions provided the perfect celebration of the day winning the CG United Super 50 Championship in fine cricketing style,” Heaven said.
“This year Jamaica celebrates its 60th year of independence and cricket has always been a rich part of our history and legacy. The JCA is therefore extremely proud that our senior men’s team provided this gift to a proud nation on its diamond jubilee. Gentlemen we raise our bats to you.”
This initiative is part of CWI’s “Cricket First” strategic plan to invest in building coaching depth and quality across the region, considering the vital role coaches play in developing cricketers’ skills across all age groups and abilities.
The High-Performance (Level 3) programme has been designed by CWI Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon, in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI). It provides a number of the region’s best coaches with opportunities to further learn and develop contemporary coaching philosophies and techniques that will allow them to thrive in the high-performance environment of the West Indies Cricket Pathway.
The rigorous, holistic accreditation, which started with an online induction on Sunday, September 19, will see 17 participants from across the region take part in a 12-month programme via a blended learning approach.
Among the coaches who are pursuing this highest level of accreditation are former West Indies batting great Shivnarine Chanderpaul; former West Indies international players: Rayad Emrit, Nikita Miller, Ryan Austin, and Garey Mathurin as well as Test batsman and current Guyana Jaguars player Vishaul Singh.
The course will consist of online discussions, tutorials, and ongoing mentoring as well as a face-to-face residential component to be held in Antigua in October 2021. In addition to the technical basics of elite cricket, topics will include Programme Management, Sports Psychology, Leadership, Communication as well as Visual Technology and Data Analysis.
Delivery of the course will be by CWI High-Performance staff, in conjunction with UWI representatives, to provide participants with unprecedented access to best practice case studies and frameworks from the elite levels of West Indies cricket and beyond.
CWI’s Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon, highlighted how the programme will significantly enhance high-performance cricket across the region.
“This programme will provide a huge boost to the upper echelons of our West Indies Cricket Pathway. By the end of our 12-month journey with these participants, we will have significantly added to our stable of local high-performance coaches,” he said.
“This group will understand how the role of a high-performance coach continues to evolve and how they can best manage themselves and their resources to create the best high-performance environments possible for their players in their current role whilst inspiring them to strive for the next step in their own coaching journey.”
In a brief address to the participants, CWI President Ricky Skerritt expressed his delight that the plan for self-sufficiency in modern coaching development was close to being fulfilled at CWI. He said that 29 certified Level 2 coaches had applied for the 17 available spaces, which have just been filled.
“Coaches must compete for places just like cricketers do. Competitiveness and education are two key components for achieving excellence in coaching,” Skerritt said.
President Skerritt informed participants that, just in the past two years, 497 new coaching certificates had already been delivered across eight Caribbean countries – 81 at Level 2, 116 at Level 1, and 300 at the Foundation Level. 16 CWI Coach Developers have also been trained to deliver Level 1 Courses locally.
“For our young West Indian cricketers to achieve their very best outcomes, all that we do to assist and support them must also be of the highest possible quality,” the CWI president said.
