Davenell Whatmore finally joined the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) and is keen to identify the best talent in the team and win matches. He also gave indication about a Baroda Premier League between the strict schedule of tournaments to identify the players who fit the best.
He said that his role is to primarily work with the senior team but will also give assistance to the other levels and the women team. He is working on improving the performance of the players. He said good winning performance is what he is targeting and he wants to stack up some wins in his list for the team. He also added that the target area is to make a group of boys keen to play with each other and win for Baroda.
Informing that coaching is important for playing games and matches as it helps them in identifying talent in the district and other areas. Finally, he advised the players to be technically sound, understand the value of a strong mental approach, and most importantly enjoy the game.
He was a right-handed batsman and played seven Test Matches for Australia in 1979, and one One-Day International in 1980. He was a part of the Australian squad in the 1979 World Cup. At first-class level, he scored over 6,000 runs for Victoria.
Whatmore has coached several national cricket teams including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Nepal. He was the Head Coach of Sri Lanka when they won the Cricket World Cup in 1996. From 2003 to 2007, he had been coaching Bangladesh and under his coaching, the team enjoyed relative success.
He was the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team from 2010 to 2011. Davenell Whatmore was also appointed as the head coach by Kerala Cricket Association for the 2017—18 season when Kerala’s Men’s Cricket Team reached the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time.
