Bermudian cricketer Stephen Outerbridge has backed some of the allegations made by two Australian coaches who attacked standards at the Shell Cricket Academy in Grenada.

However, unlike Tim Coyle and Toot Byron, who were assigned to the Academy in St.George's from June 15 to July 6 by the West Indies Cricket Board, Outerbridge stopped short of agreeing with their recommendation that all programmes at the centre be terminated.

The Bailey's Bay allrounder, who was at the Academy between May and last month, did, though, steadfastly agree that vast improvements would have to be made or the school would lose credibility.

Coyle and Byron's report to the West Indies Cricket Board condemned the director of the Academy, Dr. Rudi Webster, the Trinidad Guardian reported.

“Despite the fact Dr. Webster didn't see any of our coaching after day two, and never attended one session for the remainder of our stay, he continually interfered and imposed his will on the players,” the Australians alleged.

The pair claimed Dr. Webster continually changed the batting techniques of the players and interfered with the actions of two bowlers to the extent they could have injured themselves.

In their assessment, the coaches outlined what they thought should be the requirements of a West Indies Cricket Academy.

“It must be an integral cog in the region's long term talent identification and player development programme and be staffed by appropriate personnel from the region's coaching and welfare talent.

“It must have the best available all weather training/playing/fitness and testing facilities.

“The players' welfare and pastoral care is absolutely vital at this age and stage in their careers and must be monitored full-time by qualified, experienced personnel.”

Coyle and Byron said the Academy fulfilled few of the requirements.

“It needs a lot of improvement, that's for sure,” agreed Outerbridge yesterday. “At a time when it seems that the West Indies want to play like the Australians maybe they should get somebody from that country who is qualified to direct the Academy in the future.

“I am not surprised with the news about the criticism, the Australian coaches told us that they would be speaking out about the problems that existed because they were really concerned, and who can blame them.''

According to Outerbridge, Dr. Webster was not a qualified coach and therefore placed himself in a difficult position of trying to deal with 28 players at a time.

The Australians were ‘first class' during their phase of the training, he said, but when they ran into differences with the director it had negative effects on the running of the Academy.

“We all noticed what was going on, the Australians tried their best under some difficult conditions,” Outerbridge said. “When they worked with us they didn't have everything they would have liked to work with and that was sad.

“They (the Australians) had a decent programme, for three weeks they introduced us to the game techniques of cricket and training.

“Once during a drill about lifting our bat they showed us how (Sir Gary) Sobers did it and they came into dispute with the director and from there on the Academy went sour.''

Outerbridge was not aware of some of the other serious incidents that were revealed in the report, notably a murder of one of the helpers and a charge of rape against one of the students, and was therefore unwilling to offer a comment.

The WICB yesterday issued a statement saying it “would like to reassure the public that it is currently conducting a thorough review and analysis” of this year's Shell Cricket Academy programme and facilities.

“Once this process is complete the WICB will pursue the best way forward in the interest of West Indies cricket and make the appropriate public comment,” it said.”The Shell Cricket Academy is a critical investment in the sustainable development of West Indies cricket made possible through the partnership between the St George's University, the WICB and sponsors, Shell. All three parties have expressed their commitment to on-going review of the programme and working towards ensuring that the stated objectives are being achieved and the heritage of our cricket safe-guarded.”

The WICB said the review process began with analysis of the Academy's performance in its inaugural year and “has revealed many positive results in spite of the challenges faced in setting up the programme”.

“For example, there has been good feedback from the graduates and local coaches both last year and this year, and evidence of improved performances on the field of play among many of the graduates at local, regional and even international levels,” the statement said.