The Teesra

Category: player development

technical, tactical, physical

  • WITTW vs. WIN — is winning the most important outcome, even for “high performance”?

    The ECB’s 2022 High Performance Review, led by Andrew Strauss, has attracted extensive scrutiny for the suggested new playing schedule for First Class and List A, but remarkably little for those elements of the Review that relate to creating a high performance culture away from match days i.e. coaching, pathway, player development.

    In amongst the less-discussed sections of the Review is a proposal to “embed…[What It Takes To Win] WITTW into the ECB coaching curriculum.”

    It certainly makes sense for coaches to help players to develop and deploy skillsets that contribute to winning.

    But I have concerns, ideological and practical, on the choice of WITTW as an appropriate model within cricket.

    Might we be better concentrating on What’s Important Now?

    (more…)

  • Wot, no schools‘ cricket?

    I coach in local State schools — some Chance to Shine with KS2 (7-11 yrs old), some work with girls in early KS3 (11-13). All with the intention of introducing the wonderful game of cricket to children who might never have seen the game, or if they had thought it was only for grey, old, men.

    (No sniggering at the back…yes, I have looked in the mirror, recently — if there were other coaches, more relatable role models, I wouldn’t be there. There aren’t, yet, so the yr7 girls get me…)

    And I (and the other Community and freelance coaches delivering CTS and Team Up) do it in the knowledge that once we leave, the children might not get to play cricket again in school.

    How do we keep young players coming into the game, when the game now barely exists in the State education sector?

    (more…)

  • Teesra Talks — Play, Review, Play, Review…and Repeat. A review

    The latest edition of Teesra Talks : Play-Review-Play-Play…and Repeat — a Review takes a look at an alternative session plan I have been trying out with our u9 softball squad this autumn.

    The original blog post, referenced in the audio, is here.

    Teesra Talks are hosted on anchor.fm, and are also available as a subscription podcast from various distribution sites.