Watching the bowlers. Lawn & Para Lawn bowlers at the Commonwealth Games, that is.

I have just returned from a stint in the Commonwealth Collective, volunteering to support the Commonwealth Games Lawn Bowls & Para Lawn Bowls.

My role was in “athlete services”, so, as a coach, I had the chance to observe how top-class sportsmen and women and their coaches prepared before matches.

Continue reading “Watching the bowlers. Lawn & Para Lawn bowlers at the Commonwealth Games, that is.”

A question for coaches who also play — does coaching improve your own play?

I have had an odd experience, recently.

Coaching a very competent cricketer, finessing his bat path for an on-drive. And somehow, the work with my client seems to have transferred (positively) to my own batting technique.

Can coaching someone else improve the coach’s own playing technique? Is “subliminal skill acquisition” a thing?

Continue reading “A question for coaches who also play — does coaching improve your own play?”

Belonging — at the very heart of “inclusion” and “diversity”, surely?

Cricket in England* is facing an existential crisis of a series of racism scandals and widespread criticism for the lack of diversity across the game.

There has been a lot wrong with the game, but hopefully some good will come out of the reviews and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

But there surely needs to be more to EDI than statements of intent, and training, and disciplinary sanctions. A former coaching colleague, Ollie Rae, made what I thought was a very perceptive observation.

You can not have inclusion and diversity without people feeling like they belong.

What does “belonging” mean? What could a cricket club (the wider game) do to encourage those “outside cricket” to come inside?

Continue reading “Belonging — at the very heart of “inclusion” and “diversity”, surely?”