Former India all-rounder Robin Singh to coach in Cuba

Former India all-rounder Robin Singh to coach in Cuba
REUTERS

HAVANA, Feb 6: Former India One-day all rounder Robin Singh will form a
coaching team to train players in baseball-mad Cuba where the sport is
enjoying a revival.

Singh, who was born in Trinidad and represented India from 1989 to 2001,
told reporters, baseball was a good grounding for cricket.

"Cuban players have very good hand-eye coordination and they are fine
athletes, which helps in fielding," he said. "What is most important is
to have a cricket ground."

Cricket was brought to Cuba by West Indians who came to work in the
sugar industry about 80 years ago. After President Fidel Castro's 1959
revolution steered Cuba toward socialism and state-organized sports,
cricket died out.

Descendants of West Indian immigrants revived cricket a decade ago and
some 2,000 young Cubans play the game today.

As a recreational sport, cricket is not entitled to state support in
communist-run Cuba.

"The Cubans want to take the sport to a higher level," said the Indian
ambassador in Havana, Mitra Vasisht, not least because it is the main
sport of Cuba's Caribbean allies.

Indian Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar donated cricket equipment to
Cuba during a visit last week, she said. Cuba agreed to send experts to
help extend sports activities in India.

http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Robin_Singh_to_coach_in_Cuba/articleshow/1570055.cms