The Teesra

Category: cricket

  • Last Man Stands – is this the way forward for recreational cricket?

    One of the challenges for ECB Coaches working in the Club sector is the constant turn-over of players, especially after they leave the established Colts’ set-up, generally after U16.

    At my own Club, we have more than 70 players in the junior section, from 8-years old upwards.  If we are lucky, we might see four or five join the senior Club (and probably fewer than that stay with the Club into their twenties).

    I am sure that there are complex social reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest challenge for Clubs, County Associations, and coaches is to provide a form of the game that is accessible and enjoyable for the younger players before they are lost to adulthood.

    With support from County Boards and local councils, Last Man Stands might just be that format.  Offering competitive cricket, played at local venues, for players not able (or willing) to commit to a full day of competitive league cricket on a Saturday or Sunday, LastManStands could be a bridge between Colts cricket and the senior Club game. (more…)

  • I could do this with my eyes closed…

    No, I don’t mean it’s just too easy.  I mean that a little blind-fold practice can go a long way to improving performance.

    It is always helpful for a coach to watch other coaches working, so the other week I took the opportunity to watch a session at the Essex Autogroup Graham Gooch Cricket Centre, at the Ford County Ground, Chelmsford.  And while I was there, I got into a conversation with the father of one of the young players being coached.

    He explained how his son had problems with his batting until he improved his footwork.

    How did he manage that, I asked.

    By closing his eyes, replied the father. (more…)

  • Don’t do what I do, do what I say…

    To indoor nets last Sunday – my first time as a player for two or three years, and hopefully a preliminary to playing a few games in the summer.

    Remembering the tenets of “purposeful practice”, and everything I say to our Colts when I am coaching, I set myself a couple of very specific goals for my first batting practice.

    1. Play myself in, and adopt a very deliberate structure to the session
      1. 10 balls played with a dead bat, or left alone completely;
      2. 10 balls “looking for singles”, manipulating the ball into imagined gaps;
      3. pick up the pace;
      4. hit anything in sight (it always degenerates to this, in the end – but now I can call it “20/20 practice”).
    2. Try out the “action position” – this sounds like good advice, but I wanted to try it for myself before I suggested that any of the Colts start moving their feet before the ball is released…

    I think I managed my second goal (more on this later).

    But…the second ball I received was full, and slow, and pitched around leg, leg-and-middle. Did I play the dead bat, as per the session goals? (more…)