Category: coaching

Pakistan out-played England in the recent Test series, in the United Arab Emirates.  The 3-0 “spinwash” marked the slump that the more pessimistic of England’s followers almost wished on the team.

“England can’t play on sub-continental pitches” (the soil for the Dubai strips was shipped in from Pakistan).

“England’s batsmen can’t play spin”

And all this, apparently, without Saeed Ajmal’s teesra – more often than not, England simply failed to hit the ball (Pakistan’s batting was only slightly better, at times) – 32 of the 60 wickets to fall were LBW or bowled.

So, come the ODI series, England fans expected more of the same – only for the team to confound those expectations with a 4-0 series win, and commanding batting, from skipper Alistair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, in particular. (more…)

As a young batsman, the absolute importance of standing still until the bowler released the ball was drummed into me. And more recently, as I have worked through various levels of the coach education process, the same mantra is still repeated – pick up the bat, yes, think about leading with the dipped front shoulder, but don’t move the feet too early.

It’s not easy. And when young players see the professionals twitching, shuffling their feet, and generally not standing still, it can be even harder to convince them to stick to the text-book and wait until the ball is released. So I was fascinated to read an article in the Summer issue of the ECB Coaches Association “Coaches Matter”, with Graham Thorpe, now England’s Lead Batting Coach.