The Teesra

Category: player development

technical, tactical, physical

  • Development squads in League cricket, bringing on the youngsters – can it work?

    Last Saturday, in an unscheduled break in our League programme, my home Club fielded a mixed XI against a “development team” from another local Club.

    We had an enjoyable game.  At least, we enjoyed the day, and the result; hopefully, the opposition enjoyed the opportunity to play on a 1st XI square, and the running commentary from one of our senior players – it seemed to go down OK.

    Most of the batsmen had the chance to bat, and the bowlers to bowl, and those who wanted to run around got to chase the ball around the outfield.

    Football on the big screen in the clubhouse, afterwards (why not the Test match highlights?), and I think it was agreed that we had as good a day of gentle cricket as we could have hoped for.

    But what is the point of a development squad, and should you play friendly or competitive games?

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  • Net practice for young players – yes and no

    A thought-provoking post this week from David Hinchliffe at PitchVision Academy (@PitchVisionAcad), on the loss of young players from the game, and ways to keep them engaged and coming back for more.

    Over-reliance on net practice, especially for younger players, has been highlighted by some of David’s readers as a contributing factor.  As I explain to the players I coach – in a typical net evening, you might spend 10 minutes batting (if you are lucky), 10 minutes actually bowling, and the rest of the time watching the others bat and bowl.  Not much fun, really!  And no wonder concentration levels flag towards the end of the evening.

    There has to be a better way.  And there is.

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  • Finger spin basics…in 55 minutes

    Last week I was asked to run a one-to-one coaching session with an experienced seam bowler who wanted to learn how to bowl finger spin.

    The player was already a competent bowler, so I had no issues with his basic action. But he had no real idea of how to bowl spin.

    So I had 55 minutes to introduce the basic techniques of finger spin, to help the bowler to understand what was involved in delivering the ball with high revs (no point aspiring to be a “roller”, I thought), and to leave him with enough insight into the finer arts to be able to coach himself over the next few weeks.

    I had to concentrate on no more than two or three key points of technique, then allow the player the chance to experience the act of spin bowling.

    But how to resolve the mechanics of finger spin bowling into a coaching session that lasts just 55 minutes? (more…)