The Teesra

Author: Andrew Beaven

  • Shortcut to success – are young cricketers playing on pitches that are too long?

    Very interesting short article in the current issue of the ECB Coaches Association’s annual Coaching Insight*, from Martyn Kiel, on an experiment with shortened pitches for young players.

    With U11s (club) and U10s (County age group), playing on pitches just 16 yards long, the study reported:

    • increased numbers of back foot shots to short pitched deliveries (and more deliveries reaching the wicket keeper on the full);
    • more running between the wickets (more running, more run-out opportunities);
    • fewer shots fielded at mid-wicket (so more players involved in the field);
    • and an overall increase in playable deliveries in club matches.

    The findings are certainly in line with those being reported by Cricket Australia (CA) after a season-long trial Down Under – more play, better skills, generally better involvement.

    It will be very interesting to hear how CA take this forward, and whether the Shortcut to Success will be adopted elsewhere.

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  • The case against All Stars Cricket

    I posted recently on All Stars Cricket (ASC), and why I believe that the new entry-level programme from the ECB will be good for the game.

    I expect to hear soon that one of the Clubs where I coach has signed up to be an ASC Centre – I have volunteered to help out (even, perhaps, to take a lead for the first year), until the project attracts new volunteers (someone has to deliver that first session in mid-May).

    But it is fair to say that the response from the wider cricket community to ASC has been mixed – mostly positive (that I have seen or heard), but by no means universally so.

    I wanted to take a look at the case against.  Not (mostly) to dismiss it, but rather in the spirit of the”premortem” – if, in an imagined future, the programme has failed, what were the causes; what else could we have done pre-launch, to prevent that failure.

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  • #AllStarsCricket – good for the future of the game

    To Lord’s on Sunday, for an ECB presentation on their new programme for 5-8 year olds – All Stars Cricket.

    The promise is ambitious.

    All Stars Cricket is a nationwide programme developed by the ECB and our Elite Coach Development team that aims to inspire 5 to 8 year olds to take up cricket and join your club!

    All Stars Cricket enables children to acquire the skills to play the game and connects them to England cricket heroes. We will provide your club with everything you need to deliver an unique experience for kids and their parents.

    Active and direct support from ECB to recruit players and volunteers, and the added incentive that “the programme will be unbureacratic and will not require the level of training of coaches as clubs are normally used to” combine to make All Stars Cricket very attractive to Clubs struggling to attract young players into the game.

    The pitch was strong on “player experience” and engagement (both good things, essential, in fact).  Less clear (at this, very early, stage) on progression and retention of players.

    But at first sight, All Stars Cricket definitely looks like a winner!

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