The Teesra

Category: cricket

  • We all like to play games…so why must practice be so dull?

    We all love playing games.  Or we wouldn’t spend our summer weekends on the cricket field, and our winter evenings in the nets.

    So why, when we practice, do we revert to formal instruction?  Left elbow high, alignment, 5 minutes with the bowling machine delivering leg stump half volleys to really groove that on drive.  Why don’t we play, more?

    If I am honest, one of my motivations for becoming a cricket coach was that I enjoy playing (cricket and most games). “Giving something back to the game” and earning a living are important drivers, but passing on the enjoyment of playing (and being able to play more games myself) is an important part of my self-motivation.

    Since qualifying, I have perhaps been inhibited by the need to demonstrate the value of structured coaching, to players, parents, even to myself. Which is why I am keen to follow the lead of the ECB Coach Education and introduce more cricket games-based learning (CGBL) to my sessions, with players young and old. (more…)

  • “Modern players are over coached”, says @MattPrior13 …or should that be “over-supported”?

    Sir Ian Botham created a stir with his thoughts on the IPL, as delivered in his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.

    But it was another comment, from Matt Prior in the post-lecture Q&A, that really caught my attention.

    Speaking on the County Game, Prior observed “I find that a lot of young players coming through are over coached”.

    He went on: [when they walk out to bat, young players] “…almost need the coach next to them…they are not able to make decisions for themselves.”

    There is something in this, but also a certain irony coming from a player who was a member of what was described as one of the best-prepared England teams ever to tour Australia…before losing the Ashes 5-0.

    Could it be, then, that the England team in Australia were over-coached? Or (not quite the same thing) over-reliant on the support from their coaches?

    (more…)

  • 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?

    (more…)