There's still much work to be done but Channel 4 commentator Dermot Reeve believes the likes of Kenya, Canada and Namibia are capable of springing shock upsets at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

Former England all-rounder Reeve spoke up for the international cricketing minnows following the ICC Six Nation's Challenge - an eight day development tournament featuring Kenya, Holland, Namibia, Canada, Sri Lanka 'A' and Zimbabwe 'A' – in Windhoek, Namibia.

He attended the eight day tournament as part of the ICC High Performance Programme spearheaded by his former county coach Bob Woolmer and also featuring Clinton Gahweiler, a South African sports psychologist, and Dr Sheryl Calder, an eye specialist. The competing teams also had access to the Namibia Sports Science Institute to help with nutrition and physical training.

"I was observing the teams play, analysing them and then talking to them after the match," said Reeve. "I also did an individual lecture with all the teams for about an hour and a half, talking about one-day cricket and the attention to detail that it deserves.

"I did that with Canada, Kenya, Namibia and Holland, and also Zimbabwe 'A' asked me to do a bit of work with their team. It was really good because most of those players were a touch humble and they were keen to listen, as opposed to a few professionals who you may work with but already have the self-confidence to believe in their own thoughts.

"They seemed to lap up all the information I was giving them and the feedback from them was very good as well. It was just really enjoyable," said Reeve.

The ex-Warwickshire captain is widely acknowledged as an innovative one-day tactician and was invited to Namibia by Woolmer to help train the emerging nations ahead of next year's World cup.

"They need help with a few of the basic one-day skills, things like the running between the wickets, ball watching and not pushing the fielders," said Reeve.

"You have to remember that most of these players are amateurs. Kenya have now gone professional but the likes of Canada, Namibia and Holland are basically amateur club cricketers who are going to be playing in the next World Cup, so the aim is to try and bridge the gap between the ICC Associate teams and the Test playing nations."

Among the various tactical innovations Reeve passed on was the use of "Red zone options" when batting, the need for occasional pre-meditation, the value of unorthodox hitting and the art of bowling slower balls.

"A 'red zone option' is when you're not knocking the ball around comfortably into the gaps – even with some pre-meditation – so you need to take a high risk option. The general idea is that the better sides go less into the red zone, although one person did point out that Adam Gilchrist seems to go 'red zone' all the time," explained Reeve.

"Basically the trick is to get them to think smart cricket and have a game plan, and for that you need to know your own strengths and weaknesses."

He acknowledged Namibia, Holland and Canada still had much work to do before they could compete on anything approaching level terms but said their initial progress had been promising.

"Namibia actually beat Kenya, although Kenya rested three of their top players and played a few youngsters, but it was still a really good achievement. And Namibia's running between the wickets in that last match was so much better than in their earlier match against Canada.

"You get them together like that and they work on things. It was high intensity but it is going to be a long process to eventually bridge that gap between these sides and the likes of Australia and South Africa," said Reeve.

There were some familiar names at the eight-day tournament – played in coloured clothing and to standard 50 over ODI rules - with the likes of Bas Zuiderent (Holland), Guy Whittall (Zimbabwe 'A'), Steve Tikolo (Kenya) and Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka) all doing well, but it was rising Dutch star Edgar Schiferli who caught Reeve's eye.

"He looks a very good prospect. He's 25, he's quick and he swings it away from the right-handers. He can also bat, as he showed when he came in at No 10 against Canada and proceeded to hit eight sixes in an undefeated 89. He just smashed it out of the ground," said Reeve admiringly.

"He hits it a long way and by the end of the tournament he was batting at No 7. He got 40-odd against Kenya and he also hit a couple of huge sixes in the last game against Zimbabwe 'A' before he was run out. He certainly hits it a long way and looks a good all-rounder."

Reeve has now returned to England to continue his work as commentator for Channel 4 this summer but hopes to hook up again with Kenya and Holland before September's ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

"They've already had meetings about getting together again although no dates have been finalised as yet but I would love to give it another go. The whole experience was really enjoyable for me and it was just nice to be working with players again," he added.

Kenya were the eventual winners of the round-robin tournament, beating Sri Lanka 'A' by three wickets in the final.

17 Apr, 2002