Dav Whatmore wears the traditional Assamese japi and gamocha, while Assam Ranji coach Gursharan Singh (left) and ACA secretary Bikash Barua look on in a city hotel on Saturday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, July 20: National Cricket Academy (NCA) director of operations Dav Whatmore today stressed leadership quality and personality in the candidature for a captain in any cricket team.

Whatmore, who is here to impart training in the ongoing NCA Level-A coaches’ course as a special resource person, dwelt on captaincy skill in the theory class attended by the 27-odd coaches of the state today. He said an ideal captain should “have a strong personality, a strong determination, should be a good listener and a consistent performer.”

The former Australian international landed here on Saturday. In a brief interaction with the media on his arrival, Whatmore said the NCA’s priority is to develop the skill of the coaches.

“The Level A coaches are responsible for teaching the basics which is very essential.” He will fly back after the examinations of the coaches who are attending the course tomorrow.

About the ongoing camp, the former Sri Lankan World Cup-winning-team coach said: “I’ve been getting the feedback from the four NCA coaches who have been imparting training here. They say the coaches attending the course are quite talented and have the potential to groom quality players. I must also thank the Assam Cricket Association for organising the course which is very important to develop cricket at the grassroots level.”

“The NCA’s policy is to introduce uniform standard of coaching across the nation and organising these courses would help achieve the goal faster,” he said.

Detailing on his proposed training module for the Level A coaches, Whatmore said he believed in practical knowledge as the most important requirement for the coaches. “We will lay maximum emphasis on it,” he added.

Asked if he proposed to introduce the Australian Cricket Academy curriculum in the NCA to groom the youngsters in the Australian mould, the Aussie said: “It is quite impossible. It’s a completely different concept and atmosphere. The same module cannot work everywhere. The pattern adopted by the NCA is suitable for the Indian players.”

About the lack of consistency by the teams of the Indian subcontinent, he avoided a direct reply but felt it was more so in case of matches and tournaments outside the subcontinent where the teams appear to be often finding it difficult to adapt themselves.