Philip Service: Teacher, Mentor, Coach

It's now official. After being reported for 'throwing' during the 4th Test against Australia in May 2003, West Indies pacer Jermaine Lawson is within the legal limits set by the ICC. With all the hoopla surrounding this good news, the man who worked behind the scenes to coordinate the remedial work required must not be forgotten.

That man is Philip Service, the West Indies Cricket Board's Development Officer for Jamaica.

A native of Trelawny on Jamaica's northwest coast, Service completed a three-year diploma in Mechanical Engineering at the College of Arts Science & Technology from 1980-1983. He later made a career teaching Physics and Mathematics at William Knibb High School in Trelawny and was there for approximately 10 years, before being appointed to his current position in January 2003.

Alongside his work in the classroom, Service coached cricket at schoolboy, local county and Jamaica U-15 levels. All these combined to provide an excellent background with which to proceed, but Service says that it is his knowledge of Physics that played a significant role in his ability to understand and apply the concepts of bio-mechanics.

Lawson was therefore in good hands, and as the process from reporting to clearance was to be a long and rocky road, that was important.

Once the WICB's Bowling Review Committee looked at the tapes and it was decided that remedial work was required, Service was charged with the responsibility to monitor all aspects of the remedial work in Jamaica. After giving Lawson some time to recover from a back injury which had kept him out of the ODIs against Australia, it was time for the uphill task to begin.

From early July 2003, Service and his team worked to correct Lawson's action in preparation for the ICC's bio-mechanical assessment test which was scheduled for August. The test was to look at factors such as 'carry angle' and 'hyperextension', and then to measure the straightening of the elbow. "During this period, it was very challenging because Jermaine was not in the best of health. He was having lower back pain but the work went well. Jermaine was very cooperative", said Service.

Anyone who has been involved in changing the skills or behaviour of an adult will tell you that this is no easy feat. As Service says "we had to start a process of developing a new action which would mean taking him like an eight-year-old and trying to work through it". In education terminology, something with which Service is familiar, they had to go through a process of 'unlearning' the old action, and 're-learning' then 'freezing' the new action. "My job as a teacher would have helped because this requires not just the technique of teaching but the patience of a teacher", said Service.

Some other skills came into play, one of them being that of persuasion. Service drew on his experience as a teacher and coach, two professions which require a substantial amount of mentoring and counselling. According to the former Physics teacher, the first business at hand was "to convince Jermaine that all of this was necessary".

Service selected Andre Coley, a former wicketkeeper/batsman for Jamaica, to help in this regard. Apart from the fact that Coley played regularly against the fast bowler in the domestic competition, Coley, at age 29, is one of the youngest persons in Jamaica to hold Level 2 WICB coaching certification. The two were closer in age, and as they had developed what Coley describes as "a decent friendship" over the years this was a positive move by Service that worked according to plan.

During that phase, retired West Indies wicket keeper Jeffery Dujon, as well as fast bowlers Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop were also brought in "to help the process and to give it credibility".

August arrived, and Dr Paul Hurrion came from England to conduct the ICC's bio-mechanical test. Service says that although the media would have reported that Lawson failed the test, Dr Hurrion reported to the WICB "progress had been made, but more work was needed". In fact, when Hurrion compared the tapes he made on that trip, to the ones he had received when Lawson was first reported, he could not believe it was the same person. Such was the degree of progress the team had made, and during a time when the fast bowler was still not fully fit.

The team had to continue working on reducing the angle of Lawson's bowling arm before they were due to travel to Australia in early October. The WICB had arranged for Lawson and Service to see experts in Queensland, and while there, Service underwent some additional training in bowling review techniques and in bio-mechanics.

The Australians also recognized that significant progress had been made. The superior equipment and the Australians' past work with Shoaib Ahktar loaned some credibility to the process. Incidentally, Darren Holder, who was recently appointed to the post of Coaching Manager of WICB, was integrally involved in that review of Lawson's bowling action.

Despite a recurring back injury which resulted in a three-week rest period after the Australia trip, Service says that throughout this challenging period, Lawson was very cooperative. Along with the Development Officer, Lawson had a support team around him which consisted of David Bernard Snr, responsible for supervising the physical part of his preparation and focusing on core strengthening exercises; Elizabeth Robinson, physiotherapist; and Dr Akshai Mansingh, chairman of the WICB Medical Panel and an orthopaedic specialist.

Recognizing that much of this remedial work was psychological, Service also arranged for the fast bowler to see a specialist in that field. Service looks back now and feels that if there was one failure in the programme, this was the section that did not go according to plan. Lawson did go to a couple of sessions but indicated he would prefer if he did not have to continue.

After the Australia trip the team introduced Lawson to a competitive environment, where he would bowl to batsmen in the nets, and also bowl in the Jamaica trials under close supervision. There were bowling restrictions as well. Given Lawson's eagerness to return to cricket, these were strictly enforced to prevent a relapse into bad habits. In January 2004, Lawson was sent to see Dr Answorth Allen for additional treatment on his back while Dr Mansingh was away in Australia. Prior to this treatment, Lawson could not be stretched.

The moment that Service must have felt like a proud Dad was Monday 1 March, when Jermaine Lawson took the field for Jamaica in the match that opened the Englishmen's tour of the Caribbean. Many flocked to Sabina Park on this workday to see him, and he did not disappoint. Bowling some testing spells, Lawson took 1-45 from 11 overs. As part of the bowling restrictions, he did not bowl in the second innings.

His next assignment was against the same opponents, this time playing for the UWI Vice Chancellor's XI. Success followed there as well. Jermaine bowled 14 overs and took 3-72. He got a much-needed boost to his confidence by bowling opener Marcus Trescothick with the first ball of England's innings.

After playing in a practice match during Jamaica's preparation for the Carib Beer finals, Lawson took to the UWI field in Barbados. Once more, England was the opponent against a select Carib Beer XI. Lawson bowled 30.4 overs for 107 runs, claiming 5 scalps in the process including, for the second time, a wicket off the first ball of the second innings. Lawson describes the delivery "I thought it was a good one. The batsman wanted to leave it alone. It was a shade outside off stump and I thought he was just a little bit late and was beaten for pace". Paul Collingwood was the batsman, out caught behind for a duck.

The Bowling Review Committee received tapes of Lawson in these competitive environments, and has now cleared the fast bowler to be available for selection to resume his international career. No doubt the patience of the former teacher, together with the work ethic of the student has achieved this positive outcome.

Not wanting him to rush back into Test cricket however, Service is recommending that Jermaine plays cricket at the domestic level and build himself up gradually to the highest level. The domestic season commences this weekend in Jamaica, and clear instructions have been sent to St Catherine Cricket Club that Lawson must not bowl more than 5 overs in a spell. Members of the Jamaica Cricket Association's Board will be present to ensure this is not contravened.

Service warns that there are dangers during this period. According to Service "with a lot of people who have gone through injuries and have done remedial work, there is a high incidence of re-injury. We had a meeting with Jermaine last Thursday, involving the JCA's President Jackie Hendricks and the Jamaica selectors to emphasize this". One of the recommendations coming out of this is that Lawson will see Trainer David Bernard Snr on a regular basis, and will continue the physiotherapy work even while he is representing St Catherine Cricket Club.

Service's work is not done. "I will continue to supervise Jermaine's re-introduction to competitive cricket". Not forgetting that this was not the work of one man, the WICB Development Officer said "I would like to thank all those who have assisted directly with the programme and I would also like to thank Jermaine for his cooperation". Service also expressed gratitude to those who had the confidence in him to give him this huge responsibility, especially in light of the fact that he did not play Test cricket.

What did Jermaine have to say about Philip Service? "He helped me to believe in myself. Even when things weren't going right he would encourage me not to give up. Mr Service is an easy person to work with. We talk like friends and share ideas. If he's going to tell me to do something, he will always ask if I am comfortable with it. It was wonderful working with Mr Service".

As the two recently watched a tape of a schoolboy fast bowler with a bent elbow, the Development Officer said, "That's how Jermaine looked at one point". Jermaine quickly added emphatically "used to" and the mentor and mentee touched fists with big smiles on their faces.

All cricket enthusiasts await the presence of Jermaine Lawson on the world cricket stage. When he commands centre stage again, Philip Service will be ecstatic. He says humbly "I am glad that I have been able to make a contribution to Jermaine at this level". No doubt West Indies cricket supporters are happy too.