On a bright Friday in Saint Lucia, a week-long specialized spin bowling camp led by former New Zealand international cricketer Paul “Wiz” Wiseman drew to a close, bringing valuable elite-level expertise to emerging spin talents from two key local programs: the Saint Lucia Cricket High Performance Centre (SLCHPC) and the Saint Lucia National Cricket Association’s youth development pipeline.
Wiseman brings a wealth of top-tier experience to this developmental initiative, having built a distinguished 17-year professional playing career. Across 73 international appearances for New Zealand’s Black Caps, including 25 Test matches, he claimed 73 international wickets with his sharp right-arm off-break deliveries. His consistent success at the domestic first-class level further cements his credentials, with 466 wickets taken from 186 first-class outings.
This camp marks the latest targeted investment by SLCHPC and Saint Lucia’s national cricket federation to elevate the skill sets of the island’s next generation of cricketers, with the long-term goal of preparing young athletes to compete at regional-level tournaments. The high performance centre already has a strong foundation for bowling development, employing former Windward Islands specialist spinner Larry Edward in the full-time role of assistant bowling coach.
During his time working with the young bowlers, Wiseman highlighted unique advantages Saint Lucia possesses for nurturing spin talent, pointing to the nature of local playing surfaces that naturally favor spin bowling. “If you look at modern Test cricket, we are seeing increasingly extreme pitch variations, and that includes a growing number of spin-friendly wickets,” Wiseman explained. “That means developing new spin talent here is critical to taking advantage of these local conditions, which makes this work a huge priority. Beyond Test cricket, spin bowling has been a consistently successful weapon in the Caribbean Premier League’s T20 competitions for years, so it is already a hugely important component of competitive cricket across the West Indies.”
This is not Wiseman’s first foray into developmental coaching: he has previously helped cultivate emerging spin bowlers for both New Zealand’s men’s Black Caps and women’s White Ferns national programs. In Saint Lucia, he said he was immediately struck by the depth of raw and refined talent across the group of camp participants. He emphasized that he jumped at the chance to share decades of on-field insight and pass along actionable tips to help these young bowlers sharpen their craft.
“We got the chance to evaluate talent from both inside the High Performance Centre and the broader local cricket community, and the depth of skill here is really impressive,” Wiseman noted. “There is incredible raw talent alongside more developed, refined players, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with every single one of them. My hope is that the insights we shared this week will add real long-term value to their development as players.”
Working in lockstep with assistant coach Edward and SLCHPC head coach John Eugene, Wiseman structured the week around personalized one-on-one coaching sessions, most of which took place in the practice nets at Saint Lucia’s iconic Mindoo Phillip Park. He also worked closely with the local coaching staff to align training with the centre’s long-term development frameworks. To cap off the week, the most senior bowlers who participated in the camp got the chance to test their new skills in a practical exhibition, squaring off against batters from the professional Windward Islands Volcanoes side on Friday.