Lorenzo Tucker, the Bermuda bowling coach, has been appointed by the ICC to the coaching staff of the ICC Cricket combine in Indianapolis from September 19 to 28.

Tucker, who passed the ACB Level 3 two years ago and is a qualified biomechanical bowling coach in addition to being a certified match analysis and ACUS accredited scorer, will work with 100 of the best players in the region.

An ICC Americas representative team will then be selected to play in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Nagico Super 50 Tournament in January.

The best performing players could then receive an opportunity to try out for spots in the Caribbean Premier League.

Lloyd Fray, the BCB president, praised Tucker’s appointment. “Lorenzo has been an integral part of our national coaching set-up for almost ten years and continues to be an invaluable resource in our high performance and development squads,” Fray said.

“His selection to this combine by the ICC validates his performances and contribution at the international level. I wish him all the best and I have every confidence that he will represent Bermuda in a professional manner.”

The BCB has also confirmed that it had successfully negotiated the inclusion of Kamau Leverock, an England-based player, to the second stage of the combine as a replacement for Christian Burgess who is not able to attend. Delray Rawlins will also be at the second stage while seam bowler Chare Smith, of Warwick Workman’s Club, is among those selected for the first phase of the combine.

“I wish Kamau and Delray, at phase 2, and Chare Smith, from phase 1, the best of luck in this exciting opportunity,” Fray said.

“I also thank the hard work of Neil Speight who was relentless in the discussions with the ICC in the pursuit of ensuring that Christian Burgess was replaced with another Bermuda player.”

Meanwhile, Venkatapathy Raju, the ICC Asia development officer and former Indian spinner, joins the coaching team for ICC Americas Cricket combine next month in the United States.

In an international career spanning 11 years, Raju played 28 Tests and 53 ODIs, including the ICC Cricket World Cups in 1992 and 1996. Since retiring from international cricket he has been an Indian national team selector, head coach and vice-president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association. Most recently Raju has been the development officer for the Asia region of the ICC’s development programme.

Raju joins a high-calibre coaching panel for the combine which also includes West Indies great Courtney Walsh and internationally renowned American fielding coach Mike Young.

The combine will be coordinated by ICC Americas High-Performance Consultant Tom Evans, and will also include six coaches from Associate and Affiliate member countries within the ICC Americas region.

“Raju has had a long and distinguished career as an international player, selector, coach and administrator, and is now an important member of the ICC’s development team,” Tim Anderson, ICC’s head of global development, said.

“It’s therefore great that he is able to assist this important project in the America’s region, in what is an example of the integrated approach the ICC is now taking to assist cricket’s global development.”

During his career Raju also played league cricket in the US. “I played for a couple of seasons, mainly in the Washington and New Jersey areas, and therefore have already seen first-hand the talent that exists in the Americas region,” he said.

“I can’t wait to work with Courtney, Mike and the other coaches to help the players improve their skills, in what really is an exciting initiative for the development of the game.”