We finished our (half-) term programme with an under11 group at the weekend, with a session of game-like scenarios.
Perhaps a stretch for some of them, but after working with most of the group since last October I wanted to help them put into context some of the skills & techniques we have covered.
(more…)This week’s ECB Coaches Association “Practice Time” email highlighted a bowling game with a twist — bowlers have to compete against a team of runners, to restrict their scoring by hitting the stumps when they bowl.
I do like bowling “drills” with a bit of added jeopardy — see “knock ‘em down”, for example — but I also like to spend as much time as possible on cricket-like activities. What follows are a couple of variations on the ECB CA game.
(more…)This session starts with a modified fielding activity from icoachcricket — “all round fielding” (I have also seen this called “fielder’s wheel”, “modified T-drill”, or Williams’ wheel (a reference to a colleague who particularly favours this activity), but then adds a competitive element — fielders vs. runners — to try out the skills under simulated game intensity.
With the group I am working with this term (u11, transition to hardball), I had wanted to use a hard ball (or possibly a lightweight bowling machine ball) to get them accustomed to stopping and throwing a hard(er) ball, with the coaches taking any direct throws, catching with a mitt if required, switching to an “incrediball” when a runner is introduced.
In the event, we stuck with the incredi throughout, for safety.
But I think this works as a more active variant of the ground fielding drills we sometimes run with.
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The Teesra 