Hitting the Seam - Ecb

Winter 2011 Issue 26The Official Newsletter of the ECB Coaches AssociationTel: 0121 440 4332 Email: coaches.association@ecb.co.ukworking from within the ECB Coach Education Department Tel: 0121 440 1748 Email: enquiries.coacheducation@ecb.co.ukWarwickshire Cricket Ground, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7QX Web: www.ecbca.co.uk www.ecb.co.ukp4p7Practising whatwe preachp10p12Practice – is thereanything more fundamentalto what coaches do thanstaging and creatingopportunities throughpractice for players toimprove?How do coaches go aboutcreating the practiceswhich their players takepart in? Resources andideas are plentiful. ECB CAmembers will be familiarwith their ECB CoachingCards and more recentlythe HOWZAT! resource,which provides CAmembers with thousands ofcombinations for practicesessions, ideas andactivities. For coachesworking at any level of thegame the precious time theyspend with their playersshould be focused onfacilitating exposure to thesituations which they willencounter in the ‘heat ofbattle’. Practice sessionswhich expose players to thedemands of the gamebecome opportunities torehearse and deploy theskills which they require indifferent match situations.According to the time of year,player’s age and stage ofdevelopment and eachplayer’s individual needs,practice takes on differentmeanings. Practice must behighly individualised. Eachplayer will need and takesomething different from everypractice opportunity. The truthis that the more closely apractice session meets playerneed, the greater the chancethe session has of ‘addingvalue’ to what a player eitherknows about the game or isable to do.continued on page 2

So what is a coach’s role when itcomes to practice?Ric Charlesworth, star of this year’sWings to Fly and widely recognised asone of the world’s top coachingpractitioners, believed that coaches needto make practice ‘fun and interesting’.Recently, Andy Flower expressed exactlythe same sentiment with regards to hisphilosophy of how he prepares theEngland squad.Fun at different levels clearly looks verydifferent. Fun at the starter level is justthat – enjoyment, the physical andmental exhilaration of activity or oflearning a skill they didn’t have before.At the elite end of the sport fun can beabout enjoying the challenge of finetuning an advanced skill. Perhaps for allcoaches the word ‘satisfaction’ bestcaptures the enjoyment players takefrom practising and honing their skills. Ifwe work on the simple premise that acoache’s role, first and foremost, is tohelp improve player performance, thenthat in itself provides a clear frameworkfor how coaches can approach thepractices they design for their players.Improving performance is dependent onthe nature of the player; after all,performance at softball under-nine levelrequires different nourishment thanperformance at Test level!At a recent session in a large indoorcricket centre I was struck by somethingwhen I was observing a group of sixeleven-year-old players. During a lull inthe coaching activity, the playersgrabbed some of the equipment: a kwikcricket bat, a tennis ball, a set ofstumps, a few cones. Quickly, a gamebroke out. Hit and run, automatic slip2Players get satisfaction andenjoyment from practisingand honing their skillscatches and stumpings for nicks againsta back wall, the loss of a wicket forhitting it out of the playing area, onehandone-bounce: the list of self-imposedrules went on and on. Lo and behold,they played a fast-paced game with clearoutcomes, requiring them to make cleardecisions with consequences. Everyoneinvolved was asked to do somethingdifferent and had several opportunities tobat, bowl and field, and whilst there weredebates about decisions, the atmospherewas clearly competitive and energised.Importantly, the level of involvement foreach player was high.So, if that’s the sort of thing that elevenyear-oldplayers can come up with alone,surely that sets some kind of benchmarkfor coaches, and shouldn’t it make usreflect on our own practice? If weconsider again that improvingperformance or ‘adding value’ should bethe mantra for a coach working withplayers, surely then as a minimum,practice with a coach should provide asmuch challenge, enjoyment andengagement as the practices whichplayers create for themselves? Whilst Imay be slow on the uptake, what I sawreally hit home. The simplicity of thegames which young players create fulfilmany of the criteria which we wouldexpect to see in a high quality coachingprogramme: relevance to the game,game-based skills (simultaneouslydeveloping technical, tactical, physicaland mental factors), high volumes of‘go’s’ for each player, consequences foractions, and (depending on theconditions) different utilisations of skills.Practice is an opportunity torehearse and deploy the skillswhich players require indifferent match situationsMany coaches draw on their ownexperience of playing the game to informwhat they do with players. The majority ofreaders will fondly remember long gamesof one-hand one-bounce in the changingroom, using a stump as a bat, trying todeceive the batter with extraordinary spin,or games in restricted spaces or onuneven surfaces, when maybe a fencepanel or tree acted as a fielder. It isunlikely that many of us stood in line withour young friends, waiting to hit a singleball before returning to the back of a lineout of choice. In my memory it was gamebasedactivities which I remember takingpart in, with numerous nuanced rulesdepending on the venue: the garden, thedrive, the nets during a 1st XI game or thechanging room.And yet, despite these experiences, it canbe difficult to marry up what players‘want’ to do, with what in our opinion they‘need’ to do. That said, I can certainlyremember running practices when I feltless than engaged with what I was askingthe players to do. Goodness knows howthe players must have felt. What is certainis that for practice to truly help players, atsome point the practice scenario mustdemand that the players apply their skillsin the context in which ultimately they willuse them in the game. So whilst we maystrip away the context when working witha bowler - such as removing the batter,shortening the run-up, or simply focusingon the area of the pitch they hit - we mustgradually build that context back in tohelp the player develop that same skill ina situation which places game-likedemands on them.

The science of practiceAnders Erickson's 1991 seminal study intoexpertise showed that sheer volume ofpractice is what distinguishes those whoseskills are simply good from those whoseskills are expert. His study with musiciansidentified that those who becamesuccessful professional players hadengaged in a greater volume of practicein comparison with their peers, whoselevel of performance whilst still of a highstandard did not mark them out as thebest. Erickson identified 10,000 hours asthe average time for which expertspractise before achieving their status. Thisroughly equates to ten years of purposefulpractice. Following his 1991 paper thisfigure has been adopted across a numberof different areas, including sport.Of course, it is not a secret that the morepractice one has, the better one canexecute a given skill. This principle appliesto whatever is practised, so if we practisethe ‘wrong’ thing we will often get ‘better’at it. Whilst some have disputed the10,000-hour or ten-year rule, there is ahuge amount of evidence which supportsthe claim that those who succeed in sportor any other skill-based endeavour tend tohave engaged in a much higher volume ofpractice than their peers. Recently, a studywith premier league football academiesscrutinised academy graduates andcompared those that had been awarded aprofessional contract and those that hadbeen released. There were no significantdifferences between the two groups onphysiological, economic or academiclevels. The only difference identified wasthe volume of practice which the twogroups had engaged in. No surprise thenthat they found that those who went on towin professional contracts had practised,on average, for 2000 hours more thantheir peers. In other words, when theirpeers had been walking to the shops withtheir friends, the ‘experts’ had done it witha ball at their feet. When their peers hadchosen to stay indoors on a cold evening,the ‘experts’ had kicked a ball against awall. Simple concepts maybe, butmeaningful nonetheless.sibling to practise with (think of the Waughtwins or Robin and Chris Smith).Joining the dotsFortunate WaughsThe science is all well and good, but ascoaches we sometimes have only an houra week with our players, during whichtime simply getting them to align their ‘v’son the bat handle is considered asuccess! However, we ignore evidence atour peril, and without letting playersexperience high volumes of practiceopportunities (balls bowled, shots hit,catches taken, or stumps thrown down)we are leaving it to chance to give playersthe volume they need to gain expertise inthe wide range of skills they require toplay the game well. Just consider the nexttime you feel exasperated that one of yourbatsmen has been unable to concentrateat the crease for longer than 15 minutes,and then consider if you have everequipped your batters with the skill to dothat in practice!Ask the current crop of England playerswhat their experience of practice underthe current regime is and the word mostlikely to be used is ‘intensity’. Flower andhis staff have placed a premium on theirquality of practice by making sure eachpractice opportunity is given meaningby virtue of developing player-specificdisciplines, facilitating match-specificproblems for players to solve or trainingthe high physical demands they require.Their sessions aim to make ‘practiceharder than performance’; a mantra firstcrystallised by basketball guru JohnWooden in the US. Each player has ahighly individualised programme whichseeks to hone the skills they have andneed.When I think back to what I saw with thoseyoung six eleven year old players and theway they were organising themselves tohelp equip them with the skills to play thegame it made me reflect on how we ascoaches help our players to learn the skillsthey need. It seems a coach’s challengeis to join the dots for practice. Add yourknowledge of the game which the playersneed, give them plenty of ‘go’s’ at theseskills which engages them, and then givethe skills context and applicability for theultimate test: the game itself.Perhaps we should more often let theplayers decide on the rules and howthey practice themselves? That may helpcoaches to free up their mind to observetheir players and identify the areas whichwith a little help could ‘add value’ to theirperformance. By tweaking the scenariosthey practice or by being creative withthe task at hand, it may be possible tojoin the dots up for players and help eachpractice to really count.Intense match-specific practiceIn his book ‘Bounce’, Matthew Syeddescribes his journey to becoming theworld’s number one Table Tennis player.He suggests that the single factor whichcharacterised his success anddistinguished him from other lesssuccessful players was the sheer volumeof practice he indulged in. This might bedown to sheer chance: the chance ofaccess to a well-equipped practice facility;or the chance of access to a cricket clubclose at hand; or the chance of having a3

Competing withmind and bodyRory McIlroy leaves the 18th greenafter his disastrous final round atThe US Masters in AugustaEvery coach knows thatplayers compete in cricket notjust with their bodies but alsowith their minds and emotions.The mind and body areintrinsically connected. Theway you think can makeeverything feel easy. It canput you in a place whereeverything feels right, it canstop you from feeling toonervous, and it can help youlearn more quickly and getmore enjoyment from thegame. In short, what you thinkand how you feel have a directimpact on your physiologyand your ability to deliverskills. If you have any doubtsabout that, take yourself backto when you played. Take amoment and recall a precisetime when you felt reallyconfident. How did thatconfidence impact upon howyou moved and yourperformance? If you wereasked to describe it, you mightuse such words as smooth,easy, effortless. You mightdescribe a feeling of flowing,with time appearing to slowdown. Alternatively, think backto a time when you feltstressed and anxious. I bet youfelt awkward, as a novice inthe sport might feel. The mindalso has the ability to hangonto unwanted events longafter they have gone if thoseevents are powerful enough.If the brain (just as anyother organ of the humanbody) can be trained towork for you rather thanagainst you, your playersare capable of achievingamazing things in cricket.Middlesex team mates Paul Downton, Clive Radley andMike Gatting, in action against Warwickshire in 1983We often hear coaches talkabout players not havingenough nous and not beingthinking cricketers. But do wehelp them enough to find theright thought patterns? In thisarticle I want to explore somecoaching techniques which willhelp connect how our brainworks to our actions toachieve positive performanceoutcomes.My interest in this area washeightened about ten yearsago when I was introduced toNeurolinguistic Programming(NLP) by a colleague. We werediscussing events in our livesas players which had had alasting positive or negative4

impact on us. My event, whichI didn’t have to think too hardabout, was a match in 1983.At that point in my career atMiddlesex I happened to bearound during a golden era forMiddlesex cricket. The playersin the squad over that periodwere all fantastic performerswhom I looked up to andadmired: Mike Brearley, MikeGatting, Phil Edmonds, JohnEmburey, Graham Barlow,Roland Butcher, Wilf Slack,Clive Radley, Paul Downton,Wayne Daniel, Mike Selvey,Neil Williams, NormanCowans, Jeff Thompson,Norman Featherstone, andVincent van der Bijl amongstothers. Amidst this array oftalent I managed to make theteam for a big game in 1983 -the Benson and Hedges CupFinal against Essex at Lords.We went on to win this gameunexpectedly by 4 runs, but Iwas out first ball in front of afull house and with millionswatching live on the BBC .In my discussion with mycolleague some 20 years laterabout impacts on our lives Irealised the extraordinarycapacity of the brain to retainexperiences even after a longtime. I realised I had not dealtwith this particular event in myhead, and, looking back, ithad impacted badly uponsubsequent performances. Ithad been such a negative andpowerful experience that mybrain had “coded” it with allsorts of feelings, emotions,sights, sounds and evensmells, believing that I wantedto retain it for future use.When asked to recall it by mycolleague, I could clearly feelthe nerves again as the wicketwent down, hear the buzz ofthe MCC members in theLong Room and my ownspikes on the lino floor, andeven see the gatemanopening the gate for me tostep onto the pitch. Why hadmy brain chosen to hang ontothis event so clearly when it’ssole job is to keep us happyand healthy? From then Ibecame fascinated aboutwhat I could and should havedone to exorcise “the beast”and what I could do as acoach to help others.After a negative experiencethe tendency can be to dwellupon it and allow theexperience to take on ameaning and significance fargreater than the reality. Thebrain then assumes that thissignificance that you havegiven it means you want tokeep it in your subconscious,as you may need it again atsome time in the future. So infact, it felt it was keeping it formy benefit! Inded, in sport,unless you can use thisnegative experienceproductively, i.e. as amotivator for future success,you want to do the exactopposite and bin it quickly.You want to convince yoursubconscious that thisexperience is not worthkeeping for your health andMemories of nervous times: entry onto the hallowed turfWithin weeks of his Masters disappointmentRory McIlroy celebrates an incrediblerecord-breaking victory at The US Openhappiness and it needs tobe discarded, or that thisexperience could be useful foryou if you code it differently.I would love to know whattype of thinking and supportRory McIlroy went throughafter his defeat on the finalday at The Masters thatenabled him in a matter ofweeks to put the experiencebehind him and use itproductively in a way that ledto victory at The US Open.Many players never get oversuch an experience, or theytake many years to recover.By its very nature sport,particularly cricket, throwsup this challenge many timesover the course of everyseason and during a career,and as coaches this shouldbe of interest to us.Here are a few coachingtechniques to help yourplayers better connect theirbrain to their physiology toimprove performances.Don’t dwell on negativeexperiences, move onquickly. When a player has abad experience it’s the5

coach’s role to help the playerrecover quickly. If the coachshows great displeasure,young players are likely toattach greater significance tothe event than they should. Itis likely to embed itself in thesubconscious and, unlessdealt with, can mean thatplayers avoid similarsituations in the futurebecause of fears of what thecoach’s likely reaction will be.This is the exact opposite towhat we as coaches want.The coach can help getplayers back on track byreducing the significance andhelping the players re-code itas a necessary learningexperience to get better.6Oosthuizen- spot onMike Brearley:“law of averages”Put things in perspective.Towards the end of my career,after any failure with the batMike Brearley would say tome that I should think offailure in the following way:the law of averages says thatyou will get a number of lowscores in a season, andyou’ve just got one of themout of the way! I found this auseful way of putting things inproper perspective, reducingthe significance of the eventand moving on quickly.Find out their strategy.What is the sequence ofthoughts when they areperforming well? All playershave a strategy for everythingthey do. The best players havea clear, simple and testedstrategy; younger players’strategies will be less wellrounded,and this will bereflected in inconsistentperformances. Get them toreflect upon a time when theyfelt really confident. Can theyrecall what it was that madethem really confident? Was itsomething they saw, heard orfelt? If they can clearly runthat strategy through, thenthey can replicate it, “trigger”it when required, and use itproductively in the future. Ourjob is to help them find astrategy that is consistent,simple, and works. You mayrecall Louis Oosthuizenwinning The Open in 2010 andthe famous “red dot” whichwas placed on his golf glove.This “anchor” was placed onhis glove to trigger theneurology in order to executethe skills he needed at thattime in that pressure situation.We can always learn byunderstanding what thebest players do. Otherquality performers in sporthave have strategies whichfire their state and theirphysiology. Jonathan Trott’sunique preparation at thecrease prior to each ball isexactly doing that thing.It may look likeprocrastination and beannoying to spectators andopponents alike, but it isvital to his performance. Thesequence of repeatedlymarking the crease andadjusting the pad straps areall strategic moves to gethis mind and body in theright place to perform. Thenext time you watch qualityperformers prepare forperformance, such as in golf,notice the routine they gothrough – it will be consistent(when they are playing well).It is simply players’ brainsrunning the right strategy toimpact positively upon theirphysical skill.In future when you develop acricket skill or movement,consider how you can ensurethe brain is “in tune” withwhat you are asking the bodyto do and you’ll be well onyour way to competing withboth mind and body!Jonathan Trott’s unique preparation at the crease prior toeach ball fires his state and physiology

Children arenot simply‘mini-adults’!It is important to stress that successful adultperformers in sport are not always the mostsuccessful child participants (if they wereinvolved in the sport at all at a young age!).Instead, it is vital that children are allowed andencouraged to experience a range of variedsporting and physical activity experiences, andnot confined by coaches (or parents) to pursuean exclusive diet of cricket from a very earlyage. However, coaches working with childrendo need to be aware of the consensus ofresearch in relation to child and participantdevelopment that continually highlights theages between 4-11 years as a significantperiod for the development of fundamentalmovement and motor skills that are thefoundations of athletic performance in sport.Over the past twelve months the ECBCoaches Association (ECB CA) andCommunity Coach Education (CCED) haveproduced an extensive range of resources andarticles that have continued to raise awarenessof the varying needs of players at differentstages of their development as cricketers. Inthe first issue of ‘Coaching Insight’ KeithTomlins explored the ECB Player DevelopmentModel (PDM) located on the HOWZAT!resource. He highlighted the coaching realitythat we all face and focused on the notion that“players have particular needs at particulartimes in their development”. Those coacheswho are able to appropriately adapt theircoaching behaviour, style and practicestructure to meet these needs have a greaterchance of being ‘synchronised and in tune’with their players. Clearly, this poses somesignificant challenges for coaches workingspecifically with children, if these children arenot to be treated simply as ‘mini-adults’.On page 10, Dr Chris Cushion (LoughboroughUniversity) reinforces this important theme. Hehighlights the need to recognise the existenceof specific participant populations or ‘domains’within sport and the associated developmentof appropriate coaching expertise to supportsuch groups of participants.So what are the important issues associatedwith the development of children in sport andtheir participation in cricket? How can thehuge number of coaches who consistentlystrive to develop children and ignite a lifelonglove for them continuously improve their work?Why is the focus on coaching childrenvital for our game?The questions that could be asked tokick-start this debate might be: ‘why thefocus on children?’ and ‘why not treatchildren as mini-adults?’ Education in thewestern world.and particularly in the UK,recognises the critical importance ofdrawing a clear distinction between thelearning or developmental needs ofchildren and those of young people oradults. Within the cricket context, it isworth noting that 50%+ of ourparticipants in the game are childrenunder the age of 13 and also that 50%+of ECB CA members and coachessurveyed last year are working withplayers in the ‘Early’ stage of playerdevelopment. Additionally, Sports CoachUK has identified that 80%+ of sportscoaches currently working within the UKare coaching children. These figuresreinforce why engaging in a discussionaround coaching children in cricket iscritical for our game.It is common sense to state that earlyexperiences within cricket not only shapefuture participation within the game andsport generally, but can significantlyinfluence the quality of technical, tactical,physical, mental and social competenceand performance that is attained in laterstages of a player’s development. Cricketcoaches working with children have avital role to play in laying thesefoundations for future involvement andperformance in our sport.Existing evidence shows that sportscoaching of children in the UK too oftenfocuses on the adult format of the game.on early specialisation in one sport, onthe pursuit of excellence (consider thetypical Premier League football clubs thatrestrict the sporting diet of talented childathletes), and on the prioritisation ofshort-term success and winning over thelong-term development of the player.The challenge for child coachesGiven the context presented above, the realchallenge for coaches within a club,community or school environment is how tocontinually ignite, inspire and develop childrenvia cricket. HOWZAT! provides countlesspractical ideas, activities, games and practicesthat can be used by coaches to develop childcricketers. But what are some of the keyissues and considerations that coaches facewhen coaching children? Perhaps the mostsignificant starting point is a consideration ofthe debates surrounding how children actuallylearn and develop when engaging in a cricketcoaching session.Much debate exists in both education andcoaching in relation to how children actuallylearn. There are countless educationalinitiatives that have sought to identify exactlyhow individual children learn and then attemptto tailor specific teaching or coachinginterventions to this identified ‘individual’preference, in an effort to enhance learning.Perhaps a more appropriate approach forcoaches to understanding children as learnersmay be to appreciate that individual childrenlearn in a variety of ways and demonstrate anamazing ability to continually learn, if theenvironment is right. As such, coaches couldacknowledge this and attempt to broaden,extend and challenge the children that theycoach via a wide range of learningopportunities, tasks and practice scenarios,striving to develop aspirations and broadenchildren’s horizons rather than to limitand define them from an early age.In this edition of 'Hitting the Seam' wehighlight the importance, for coaches workingwith children, of fun and enjoyment, of plentyof opportunities for practice, of appropriatevolumes of practice, and of letting childrentake responsibility for the design of their ownpractices.A summary of the key issues in respectof coaching childrenEvidence presented by Muir et al (2011), in theirarticle in the book ‘Coaching Children in Sport’,effectively summarises key issues in relation to7

demonstrations, feedback and practicestructures when coaching children in sport. Thiscan potentially be used as guidance by cricketcoaches when attempting to plan and structureeffective coaching experiences for children:. “Demonstrations can be very effective forlearning (especially with new skills; Horn &Williams, 2004), but not so effective at othertimes (e.g. refining already learned skills, orintroducing complex new skills; Horn &Williams, 2004), and even ineffective or harmfulon certain occasions (i.e. situations in whichone specific technique is not necessarilyrequired to achieve an outcome; Wulf, 2007).Hence, coaches need to think about how theyuse demonstrations with their children”.. “Coaches should consider what type offeedback (i.e. informational, behavioural,correctional, reinforcing, motivational, positiveor negative, etc) they should be providing,when and how often. While younger childrentrying to master new tasks may benefit frommore (amount) immediate (timing) feedback toencourage quick improvement, less (amount)delayed (timing) instructional feedback mayprove most beneficial for retention, transferand learning (Wulf & Shea, 2004). Too muchfeedback may overload the child and createcoach dependence”.. “In terms of practice type, while blockedand constant practice of a skill leads toimproved short-term performance, randomand variable practice is associated with betterlearning in the medium-to long-term (Williams& Ford, 2009)”.(all taken from Developmentally appropriate approaches tocoaching children - Muir et all 2011; in ‘Coaching Children in Sport’,edited by Ian Stafford, 2011; Routledge, 1st Ed)Can we play a game now?Over 50% ofparticipants in thegame are underthe age of 13Over 50% ofECB CA memberswork with playersin the ‘Early’stage of playerdevelopmentIt is important for coaches to consider theamount and type of ‘game-based’ scenariosor practice opportunities that they providefor the children, where technical and tacticaldevelopment is undertaken in the context ofthe actual game. How often have you heardchildren repeatedly say ‘can we play a gamenow’? This typically is based on a genuineinterest in play and a willingness toparticipate in something that they associatewith the ‘actual’ game of cricket. Ascoaches we should strive to ignite, fosterand develop this interest and motivation.Cricket Game-Based Learning (CGBL)activities contained on HOWZAT! are goodexamples of how to design this type ofpractice, as they focus on the developmentof relevant game-related skills within theactual context of the game.Within this format coaches can designspecific game-based scenarios wherechildren are able to learn relevant skills inthe actual context of the game. Learning adistinct skill in total isolation from the gamecontext (in a net, for example) can prove tobe difficult for some children as theystruggle to make the cognitive, physical andemotional links when confronted with thegame itself. Game-based scenarios are notsimply about tactical development and canalso be used to focus on the technicaldevelopment of child cricketers. This formatof practice can provide children with themeans to see the actual relevance of certainskills that they need to develop, thusincreasing their inquisitiveness about thespecific techniques that the game requires.So what does all this mean for cricketcoaches that work with children? Well, thereis no definitive answer in relation to ‘how to’coach children, as all children, and coachesfor that matter, are very different. However, ifcoaches are aware of some of the specificissues relating to coaching children thathave been presented in this article, we canbe assured that cricket is attempting toacknowledge and address the real needs ofthis important group of participants.Each year, the number of cricket coachesqualified to work with players in our systemgrows. Burgeoning numbers of coaches inclubs up and down the land undoubtedly giveplayers a greater chance of engaging in cricketin order to learn about the game. ECB’scoaching system, supported by the ECB CA,has been the envy of many other sports foryears. The numbers of club coaches,particularly in the last decade, has dramaticallyincreased as the popularity of coaching,access to courses and resources, and theprofile of coaching have grown.Coaching adultscan the fully grown continue to grow?Visit any established club now and you’ll nodoubt see coaches working with players onany given evening. On closer inspection whatyou’ll probably see is coaches working withyounger players in the junior age group sides.The question is: Who is working with theadults? The perception may well be, nobodyneeds to! However, as coaches we need toask ourselves the question: Is this right for ourplayers, and more importantly, what do theywant?Most young players are likely to have grownup having had coaching as a prominent part oftheir cricketing diet. Where do we leave theseplayers in their development if their access tocoaching stops at age 16, 17 or 18? The8

culture established within many clubs meansplayers have access to someone who canhelp to create the opportunity to addresswhat it is they need to do to get better. Theimplication being simply that coaches beinginvolved with players is better for theirdevelopment (and enjoyment of the game)than leaving players to their own devices.The driver which motivates players to playthe game varies enormously. However, forthose continuing their journey into open-age,league cricket it is unlikely that they will haveno interest in getting better, particularly ifthey have spent much of their cricketing lifeworking with coaches in order to do so. Sowhat can be done about it?Many of us will have sat in the changingrooms as young players starting out insenior teams. Some will have been fortunateto have been encouraged and supportedas we played the game, and learnt fromplaying longer forms of the game with moreexperienced skilful players. Others may havehad a less enjoyable time. Endless hours atthird man or fine leg, freezing in the field, thenbatting at jack! Either way it is an interestingthought to add a coach into that mix.I'm sure that, for a certain type of player, thethought of somebody coming into a team, orbeing at practice and being told what to dowould put them off turning up! However, if thepremise that coaching is to be led by whatthe individual wants and needs, and if wemake it fun, then perhaps there are others inadult teams that would love somebody tohelp them out to: solve a technical or tacticaldilemma, provide ideas on captaincy or leadership,organise the practice sessions, or stagescenarios which will help refine or hone skills.If we draw a comparison to adult professionalcricket, most teams would not consideroperating without a coach and coachingstaff. Yet, if we come a tier down to premierleague cricket, there are still only a verysmall number of clubs that do offer coachingto their senior sides. As we move to 2nd XIor lower league cricket the coachingopportunities for adults diminish even further.It is a tough role. Many coaches will feelmore comfortable working with youngerplayers. The differences between how adultsand young people like to receive informationare vast. However, if they have relevant clubcricket experience, if they understand theplayers' skill requirements, if they know theindividual personalities and their socioeconomicneeds, and if they have thecapacity to design appropriate sessions,then, with the backing of the clubs, coachesof adults in amateur cricket could findenormously satisfying roles.Many players will now see the value ofcoaching. Scepticism about the value ofcoaching for adults in club cricket could soonbe a thing of the past. Whilst clubs at manylevels still invest in bringing quality playersinto their clubs to help achieve success, itmay be that by working with the raw materialsalready there, a skilled coach could help toimprove the performance of those playerscommitted to the club already. Surely, if westop offering coaching support to our playersat 16, we will never truly know what theirpotential might be. A continued opportunity tolearn and develop through skilled coachingcould help these players become stand-outadult cricketers.A simple test for any coach is simply to askthe players: do they want somebody toorganise practice and stage sessions? Dothey want individual help? Do they wantsomebody to help organise pre-game activityor to discuss tactics with during play? If thereare more ‘yes’s’ than ‘no’s’ then you might beonto something!Professionalteams wouldnot consideroperatingwithout acoachThe role is different to working with children oryoung players. The way in which adults learn,the experience they already have, the natureof the cricket they play, and the holisticdevelopment of their tactical understanding,physicality and mentality, must all be cateredfor and carefully considered.Ultimately though, the role is needs-led. Dothe team really want a coach? If they do, whatdoes the team need to do to succeed, andwhat will the coach provide to address thatneed? What do the individuals need todevelop in order to contribute to the team’ssuccess, and what role can the coach play? Itmay be that through simply allowing players inpractice the opportunity to address thesituations they are exposed to at the weekendin a relevant, meaningful way, then coaches ofadult teams will play an increasingly popularrole within amateur clubs’ support staff.Some areas for an aspiring adultcoach to consider may be:Succession planning: What do oursenior teams look like now? Whoare the understudies or next -inline?What can I do to help toprepare those players for thestep-up?Game practice: Do my playerspractise with games, apart fromduring fixtures? Knowing thepower of game-based, orscenario-based learning could Ichange the nature of practice forthe team and make the sessionsmore relevant to theirperformance?What volume of practice do theplayers need to improve? Howmany balls are they hitting,catching, stopping or bowlingcurrently in practice? Could Istructure practice differently toimprove this?How well do I know my team? Arethere players who may be able tohelp the other players learn if Icreate the right environment andopen up discussion?How do we develop tactical play:opening the innings, battingagainst spin, batting or bowling atthe death, or creating pressure inthe field. When and how do wepractise these elements?How supportive is the teamenvironment? Do players playwithout fear and achievepotential? Do the players clearlyunderstand their role and whatthey need to do? How can thecoach help facilitate thesefactors?How can I manage the integrationof young players into the adultteam? How can I manage the exitstrategy for older players who youwould like to step aside to createroom for the younger player, butwant to retain for their experiencein lower sides?9

CushioncoveredIn Wings to Fly 8 ‘What’s Your Style’we were able to interview Dr ChrisCushion (Senior Lecturer and Headof the MSc programme in SportCoaching at LoughboroughUniversity) who has experience incoaching in a wide range ofparticipation and performanceenvironments over the last 20 years.He is widely regarded as one of theleading academics currentlyexploring coaching, coach learningand coach education in the UK. Inthis article we explore some of thekey considerations for coacheswhen attempting to develop all ofthe players that they work with viaan examination of: the holisticdevelopment of players, thedevelopment of specific participantgroups, and the construction andorganisation of appropriatelychallenging practice environmentsand activities for players. Thisinformation provides us all with animportant insight into identifying,understanding and responding toplayer need. However, equallyimportant is the need to reflect onthe time and consideration we giveto our own needs and ongoingdevelopment as coaches. Thereforewe took the opportunity to meetwith Chris to discuss in detail whatexisting research can add to ourunderstanding of coaching, ourdevelopment as coaches, and ourpart in developing our players.You just can’ttake a practiceused bysomebody elseand apply it toyour own groupof playersQ: Based on the current knowledge,understanding and experience thatyou have in relation to coaching, onreflection do you think that your firstexperiences of coaching weresuccessful?“In the first instance I was probablylooking for good ideas that I could stealand use. Indeed, I know that a lot ofpeople talk about coaches as magpies,looking for good ideas and trying to stealas many of them as they can, which isgreat up to a point. One of the mostimportant learning sources for me waswatching a great coach deliver a complextactical session, and I thought ‘Yeah Ireally like that, that is excellent’.I then took it back and delivered it tomy own team, and it was a completedisaster! It was a disaster in so manyways, and on reflection I didn’t have thesame level of knowledge orunderstanding as he had. I suddenlytwigged that you just can’t take apractice used by somebody else andapply it to your own group of players fora whole range of reasons.So I am now a little more sceptical ofcoaches just being magpies. I think thatyou need to contextualise coaching a lotmore, think about the players that youare working with and your ownknowledge and understanding of aparticular practice and what you want toget out of it. Yes, you can take and applyframeworks and ideas from other people,but it could be massively problematic justtaking other people’s stuff and deliveringit to your group of players”.Q: Are there any common threadsthat run through all good or expertcoaches?“There is clearly a ‘sameness about theiruniqueness’. Yes, they will be individualand different in their own ways, but they willhave a number of things that are found inall good coaches. I think that the topcoaches are incredibly thoughtful andreflective about their own practice. I thinkthat they are open-minded and willing totake on new ideas. I think that the topcoaches are aware of their own philosophyand are more able to articulate it, so thatthey move beyond an ideology ordescription of behaviour to actual beliefsand values that inform their practice.The top coaches are incrediblythoughtful and reflective abouttheir ownpracticeI think that they have a very high level ofknowledge that is very domain-specificand works for them in that domain.Although they might be good, they mightnot necessarily be able to work aseffectively in other domains. Knowledgeand expertise are very domain-specific.You can look at children pre-puberty, youcan look at children post-puberty, you canlook at participation groups, you can lookat development groups and you can lookat elite groups as all being specificdomains that will require specificknowledge for these domains. Of coursethey will, because knowledge is domainspecific.There is a very clear domainspecificlink between knowledge,understanding and the skills or attributesthat you need to work with certain groups.There are common things that link tocoaches working across domains oracross practice that make them top orgood coaches. These are: understandingabout themselves; where they have comefrom and how that informs their practice;the willingness to learn from what ishappening in front of them and from theirmistakes; and also a willingness to learnfrom a diverse range of sources. Indeed, areally good marker of expertise is thatwillingness to take onboard information10

and learn from a wide range of sourcesand the different experiences whereverthey may arise”.Q: A massive emphasis in coachingand coaching research is nowcurrently placed on the ‘how to’coach skills. What does good ‘howto’ coaching look like?“It is meeting the needs of the athlete interms of achieving specific learningoutcomes, planning the types of practicesor games that are deployed, andmanaging the coach’s behaviour to meetthe needs of the player (i.e. when do I tell,when do I ask, and when do I saynothing). It is incredibly complicated to dothis. So good ‘how to’ coaching ispractised where: a coach is planned,prepared, aware of the learningoutcomes, organised, aware of their ownbehaviour, considering the players thatthey are delivering to, and actuallydelivering according to the needs of theindividual and group at that specific time.Everything is underpinned by a reallygood understanding of their athletes anda really good understanding of their sport,as you need to have this understandingfor appropriate delivery.I think there has traditionally been amodel in coaching that presents thecoach as a knowledgeable person whoshould impart knowledge, where thecoach should be seen to be stopping theactivity and intervening, and theneveryone is happy because they havepaid their money for this to happen.However, there are lots of ways todevelop knowledge, and it is not alwaysme telling someone something! Thepractice does it, asking questions does it,players thinking about their owndevelopment does it, and there is a wholerange of ways of developing players, andcoaches should tap into these methods.There is a notion about coaching that it iscoach-led and has to be done in a certainway to be recognised as coaching.Ultimately, coaches do not play thegame, players play the game, so playersneed to be able to work out problemsand face dilemmas in practice and duringgames. Indeed, there is a danger ofcoach dependency. As far as the coach isconcerned, it is really about being ‘anauthority’ rather than ‘in authority’, andthere is a real difference between thesetwo things. The coach will have a level ofknowledge and expertise about the game,and that is a resource that players canuse. It should be about educating playersto use the resource rather than being toldwhat to do by the coach”.Q: If players are at the centre ofcoaching, how can you measurethe effectiveness of a coach?“When I have worked with coaches Ihave talked about giving their playerssomething that they didn’t have whenthey arrived: a nugget of information,something about their technique,something about game understanding,something about lifestyle management,something that when they walked intothe session they didn’t have before. Ifthey leave the session with it you haveadded value as a coach. For me, aneffective coach is someone that is ableto add value, because outcomes andwinning are fickle and not under thecontrol of the coach”.Knowledge andexpertise is verydomain-specificQ: If you attempt to apply thisphilosophy to grass roots sport orcoaching within a participationenvironment, is it more importantfor coaches to focus on playershaving fun or players learning anddeveloping?“Having worked in a participation andcommunity type environment I am alwaysintrigued by the notion of fun andenjoyment, and what these actually mean.If you take a young person and ask them‘why did you have fun?’, it is probablybecause they have learnt a new skill, orthey are able to leave a session havingdone something that they could not dobefore, or they are able to do somethingthat they have seen their hero do ontelevision. For me that is learning andimproving their skills or ability. So clearlyenjoyment and fun are important, butwhat typically gives those young peoplethat fun and enjoyment? It comes fromlearning and being able to do somethingunique for the first time. That is the buzzand enjoyment that children get ratherthan just running around and mindlesslyplaying a game for the sake of it. The realenjoyment comes from that sense ofimprovement, so there is a real elementof coaching and learning within everyparticipation environment”.Q: In light of this discussion aboutplayer learning, what can currentresearch add to the age-old debatearound ‘game-based play’ versus‘technical development’?“Increasingly there are ways to embedskill development within games,particularly within amended ormodified games (Teaching Games forUnderstanding / Games Sense/ Game-Based Learning). However, this doesnot mean that you should neglect skilldevelopment. More often than not youwill watch a game and the reason thatit breaks down is because there is aproblem with the skill rather than thelevel of understanding about tacticaldecisions, about when to perform aparticular skill. So it is the skill thatneeds to be worked on and improved.Therefore, it may be that you strip downthe specific game to a point where it isa skills practice (and there is absolutelynothing wrong with doing that), but itshould not be that there is a skillproblem, and so you get rid of absolutelyeverything and focus just on the isolatedskill. Instead, look at taking away a bit ofthe game at a time. That then allows youto focus upon the specific skill within acontext that is still recognisable as thegame. It may be that you end up withan unopposed skills practice, but youshould have gone through a processwhere you have explored all otheroptions first, so that this is notnecessarily your default option.Then once you see some skilldevelopment and mastery, you shouldstart building back up towards therecognisable game. It should be seen asa fluid continuum where you manipulatethe practice as much as you can whilstkeeping as much of the integrity of thegame as possible to focus on a particularskill”.It is important to acknowledge thatthe issues highlighted and discussedby Dr Cushion represent just oneperspective on coaching, but itwould be unwise to ignore theinsight that research into coachingand coach education can bring.The exciting prospect is how werespond to these real questions andchallenges in coaching.11

TERRY JENNER (1944-2011)The cricket world lost a great coach andpersonality when Terry Jenner died peacefullyat home in Adelaide with his family aftersuffering a heart attack in 2010.TJ, as he was affectionately known by hismany friends throughout the cricket world,was born in Western Australia, After a shortperiod in Grade Cricket was selected for theState side during the 1963-64 season. After afew years he moved to South Australia wherehe found the Adelaide Oval more conducive tohis leg-spin bowling, and it wasn’t long beforehe won the first of his nine international Testcaps for Australia.TJ’s playing career finished in 1977. Afterserving a short period in prison forembezzlement he turned to coaching andused his passion and knowledge of leg-spinbowling to develop players at the AustraliaCricket Academy in Adelaide. His reputationwas enhanced when he took a young ShaneWarne under his wing and helped turn theyoung spinner into one of the greatest bowlersthe world has ever seen.With Warne helping Australia become thenumber one side in the world, the ECB startedto explore how it could begin to develop awrist-spin bowler for the benefit of Englandcricket. With assistance from the BrianJohnston Memorial Trust the ECB turned to TJto set up the ECB’s Wrist-Spin DevelopmentProgramme. The aim of the programme wasto identify talented bowlers and provide themwith expert coaching and support.Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Will Beer (Sussex)and Max Waller (Somerset) all benefited fromTJ’s expertise and went on to play first-classcricket. But the success of the programmewas much more deeply felt than that inEngland and Wales. For the first time the artand science of wrist-spin began to beunderstood by more coaches, and youngwrist-spin bowlers began to appear in juniorage-group cricket in greater numbers.It would be fair to say that not everyonefound TJ’s approach to the coaching of wristspinto their liking. He could be dogmatic inhis views. He was passionate in his belief onwhat the key principles for success were, andhe was unremitting about the nature ofpractise required to get there. But whateverdifferences existed, there was no question thatcoaches had never had access to such adepth and clarity of knowledge on wrist-spinbefore and rarely had it been delivered in suchan entertaining and innovative way.One enduring aspect of TJ’s characterwhich those who knew him well will neverforget was his wonderful sense of humourand wit. His contrition for his time in prisonwas deeply felt. After viewing his sparselyappointed accommodation at a school duringa Regional Festival he declared that his cell inprison was infinitely more comfortable. TJmoved into a pub down the road for theduration of the Festival where he could enjoyhis trademark cigar and good glass of redwine.ECB Managing Director – England CricketHugh Morris said: “Terry’s expertise andcharisma were legendary within cricket circlesand he will be much missed not only by themany young bowlers he had worked with butalso the wider cricket family both in thiscountry and in Australia. We have lost a greatfriend to our game as well as an outstandingspecialist coach.”ECB Performance Director David Parsons,who worked closely with Terry in his previousrole as ECB’s spin-bowling coach, said:“Terry shared much of himself with everyonehe met and I was fortunate to be the recipientof much of this – his fire, his passion, hisknowledge, his skills, his humour, his home,his family and his generosity. I have memoriesof Terry that will stay with me forever. He wasa wonderfully engaging figure and there canbe no doubt that his legacy will live onthrough the careers of the many coaches andplayers he inspired and influenced both in thiscountry and overseas.”NEAL ABBERLEY (1944-2011)The cricket community mourned the loss ofNeal Abberley who died on August 8 after along illness.Neal’s loss was particularly felt in hishome county of Warwickshire where heplayed from 1964 to 1979 as a stylish toporderbatsman before joining the countyas a batting coach in 1981 and devotinghimself to helping develop young playersfor the benefit of Warwickshire cricket.Amongst the many players whobenefited from his great knowledge andenthusiasm wereIan Bell andAshley Giles. Bellcontinued to turnto Abberley foradvice even afterhe establishedhimself as anEngland regularand paid him thistribute: “WhateverI have achieved incricket is down toNeal Abberley.I first came across him as a nine year-oldin county trials in the old indoor school atEdgbaston. I’m not sure whether herecognised at that stage that I had thepotential to become a good cricketer, butfrom that first day he became a fatherfigure to me. He helped me to grow up.He could be quite tough . . . but all hewanted me to do was to get better andbetter as a cricketer”.Ashley Giles, Director of Cricket atWarwickshire said of Abberley: “To me hewas a mentor, a confidant but, most of all,a friend.”12GRAHAM DILLEY (1959-2011)It was with great sadness that the cricketworld heard of the loss of Graham Dilley aftera short illness. Affectionately known as Dill,he was one of the finest fast bowlers of hisgeneration and moved into coachingfollowing a distinguished England careerwhich saw him win 41 Test caps, appear in36 One-Day Internationals and play in twoAshes Test-winning sides in 1981 and 1986-87.After a spell working as a bowling coach,firstly with Surrey where his protégésincluded future England players such asAlex Tudor and Ben Hollioake, and then withScotland during their Cricket World Cupcampaign in 1999, Dill became the CricketHead Coach at Loughborough University in2000.During his tenure at Loughborough manyof his students progressed into county andnational representative cricket, the mostnotable being England spinner, Monty Panesar,England Women’s all-rounder Nicky Shaw andthe current Hampshire captain and EnglandLions player, Jimmy Adams.While at Loughborough, Dill was alsoseconded to work with the senior EnglandTest squad on its tours of India and NewZealand in 2001/2, and Australia with the in2002/3. He also made a significant contributionto the development of the women’s gamefollowing Loughborough’s appointment as thefirst University Centre of Cricketing Excellencefor women’s cricket in 2008.Following Graham’s death, Hugh Morris,ECB Managing Director – England Cricketpaid this tribute to him: “As well as being abowler of the highest class, Graham made animmense contribution to our game as acoach, and his ability to impart his knowledgeand wisdom to future generations of youngcricketers will be sorely missed”.

News from the RegionsECB CA Membership:NORTH. Cheshire have followed asuccessful Coach Educationprogramme in 2010/11 andhave set up 2 CDWs, 6UKCC2s, 3 UKCC1s and aseries of Training MethodWorkshops hosted at cricketclubs across the county.With the release of theChance to Shine programme,the county’s deliverers will besetting up a series of Cricket forTeachers courses and gameawareness sessions.The Board has also taken ona strength and conditioningconsultant, Angela Jackson,who will work predominantlywith county squads andcoaches.Coach Education Manager,Graeme Rickman, has beenappointed as the North West’sregional representative,replacing Brian Woodhead fromLancashire.Mike Scott (Young Coach),Dave Burrows (OutstandingCoaching Achievement), andMike Fell (OutstandingContribution) were Cheshire’snominations for the Sky SportsCoach Awards.The County's developmentofficers will be running a seriesof regional Training MethodsWorkshops based around theECB’s new ‘Howzat’ resource.This follows on from thesuccessful workshops held inthe winter detailing the county’scoach and player pathway.. Durham will be running 2UKCC1 courses (27 November,and 4 March at Ushaw MoorSchool, Durham). 2 UKCC2courses (6 November and 26February at EasingtonCommunity School). 2 TrainingMethods Workshops inDecember and March, CDWs inJanuary followed by ClubCoach Assessment in February.After two successful‘Howzat!’ familiarisationevenings more will be heldthroughout the winter.DCB CA are looking at waysof improving communicationwith members by use of emailand social networking. Anewsletter is planned in theNew Year.Durham will develop theirU13s junior girls league whichwill support the development ofwomen’s club cricket andcounty squads.. Lancashire are planning torun the following coursesduring the winter of 2011/2012:8 Level 1, 11 Level 2, plus 2complete sets of CDWs withthe option to do Club CoachAssessment at the end. Alsoadding 4 more Tutor Assessorsto our team during the last 12months: Joe Scuderi, Qasim Ali,Damian Gudgeon and MarkCookson.The County Championshipsuccess of the First XI with theuse of mostly home grownplayers. Peter Moores and histeam have done a fantastic jobas well as giving huge supportto the CA. The Boys Under 14s,Girls Under 13s and DisabilitySquads also became CountyChampions in 2012. Thisreflects well on all the workbeing done at grass roots levelby many of the 1,200 membersaround the county.Tutor/Assessors and theirpartners enjoyed an entertainingevening at The Lancashire CBOSCAs event along with 900other cricket volunteers workingin the county. Guest speakerGeoff Miller was hugelyentertaining.Lancs are looking to trainsome up of our tutors andCommunity Coaches to be ableto deliver ‘Howzat’ orientationevenings to our rank-and-filemembers at various locationsaround the county in the nextfew months.A winter programme ofevents for coaches is lined upwith an emphasis on thecoaching of fielding skills.An on-line survey has goneout to all members to find outhow to improve services to themand what sort of events theywould like to see in the future.Geoff Miller,hugely entertaining. Yorkshire - With the supportof Sports Coach UK, a group ofexperienced coaches havetrained as mentors, and a PilotMentoring Scheme is now inoperation. The aim is to guide /assist committed, talentedcoaches to progress and achievetheir optimum, with a view toraising the standard of coachingacross the County. Initially, sixcoaches are being mentored.The scheme will be continuallymonitored and expanded in thefuture, as we learn from theprocess and train additionalmentors.13

ECB CA Membership:MIDLANDS ANDWALES. Lincolnshire plan to run 3UKCC1 and 2 UKCC2 coursesand another set of CDWs.Plans are afoot to run internalcoach education developmentsessions, one for UKCC1holders who are UKCC2potential candidates, and onefor UKCC2 and above, in latespring 2012.Issue 2 of the countynewsletter is due out imminently.Lincolnshire CA membershipis up from 161 to 240 from thesame time last year.In April / May Lincolnshire rana UKCC1 for 10 coaches andUKCC2 for 13 coaches at thesame venue, using a partitionedhall and separate classrooms,whereas, if they had beenscheduled to run separately, theywould both have been cancelled.Hoping to arrange a countyconference for Lincs CAmembers in spring 2012.We ran a successful OSCA’sevent in September at countylevel for the first time, 80+people.Plans for a girls side atcounty U15 for the first time in11 years next year. A successfulgirls cricket programme in 2011,and the first 2 ladies teams havealso gone live this season.. Nottinghamshire - 2 UKCC1courses prior to Christmas arefully subscribed (50 candidates),and a UKCC2 (24 candidates). 3UKCC1s scheduled for the NewYear, 6 CDWs and a Club CoachAssessment Day. A Coaching forTeachers course ran in April,with 3 further courses to run inNovember 2011 and April 2012.CA membership is 341, anincrease of 14% for the year. 7members were nominated forOSCAs. 3 members werenominated for Sky Sports CoachAwards.3 practical workshops are totake place over the next 5months, all free for Notts CAmembers.Cookie Patel presented apractical demonstration of thenew ‘Howzat’ resource.Women and Girls:Reintroduced county U17sgirls finished 3rd in their league,winning 4 out of 6 games.6 clubs took part in the ‘Hit 4Six’ programme. All clubs tookpart in the northern kwik league,Bridon CC representingNottinghamshire at the regionalU13 Lady Tavernerscompetition.A girls-only EPP programme forage 12 to 16 will be continuing.Gedling & Sherwood CC alongwith Kinoulton CC havingdeveloped senior women’ssections, to join Newark R&Mand Plumtree, and the CB willbe supporting a small number ofclubs located in the north of thecounty to develop a northernsenior women’s section.Disability Cricket:A table cricket festival forspecial schools across thecounty was held at PortlandCollege and will run again in2012, feeding into the nationalcompetition for table cricket.The Nottinghamshire Knightshave established Thurgarton CCas the base for visually impairedcricket in the county and havecompeted in Visual Impairedcricket festivals over thesummer. Securing SportEngland funding to commit to adevelopment programmeculminating in the Knightscompeting in the British BlindSport developmental league in2012.The county’s 2nd visuallyimpaired cricket club (N.V.I.C.C)had Darren Sullivan selected forthe England visually impairedcricket squad.A UKCC1 course runningover 2 consecutive Sundays inNovember was fully subscribedin just 6 weeks of release.. Oxfordshire will be running aUKCC1 and a UKCC2 coursewhilst awaiting news from eachDistrict Development Group tosee if they require more.Subsidised specialistsessions have included seambowling with Jack Brooks, andwicketkeeping with Jack Russelland Jon Batty (pictured below).Paul White and Phil Evanswere awarded OutstandingJack RussellJack BrooksService to Coaching Awards.The Board is now a limitedcompany, with Rupert Evans,Head of Cricket and AshleyRump Cricket DevelopmentOfficer.Megan Burton scored backto-back100s for OxfordshireWomen, after coming throughEPP.Oxfordshire Development X1renamed Oxfordshire 2nd X1.Jon Batty14

. Shropshire UKCC1 courses torun at Wrekin College (November2011) and Ellesmere College(February 2012) plus a UKCC2and Working in Schools moduleat BRJ College in March 2012 tosupport club workforces after thecompletion of the 34 onlinedevelopment plans.84 coaches attended 45UKCC1 and 39 UKCC2 coursesduring 2010/11 Coach Educationseason. There are now more than270 CA members.At the OSCAs/CA Awardsevening in May, the Sky SportsCoach Award nominees wereBridgnorth CC’s Rob Hughes:Young Coach, SCB EPP headcoach David Nock: OutstandingCoaching Achievement, andWellington CC’s Norman Ross:Outstanding Services andContribution to Cricket.The SCB CA now has its ownsection of the new SCB website(shropshirecricketboard.co.uk),regular updates in the SCBNewsletter and a new ‘CoachesCorner’ section in the newsletter,where coaches give advice, tipsand drills (using ‘Howzat’).The ‘Howzat’ rollout evening,planned for July, is to be rescheduledfor the winter.Ian Gregory attended theNational Tutor & AssessorTraining at Cardiff and willsupport up-and-coming coursesdelivered in the county with aview to becoming a fullyaccredited ECB tutor.Women’s & Girl’s go fromstrength to strength, over 150girls took part in festivals andtournaments this summer. QuattCC was host to Shropshire’s firstgirls-only Young Leaders coursewith 10 youngsters from clubsand schools across the county,tutored by Shropshire Women’sLouise Pugh.The SCB have completed anaudit of disability cricket forfuture planning.. Staffordshire are running 4UKCC1, 3 UKCC2 courses and aClub Coach course. 6 CDWsover 3 weekends (November,December and January).Ongoing ‘Howzat’ Orientationsessions to the CountyDevelopment Groups.An executive team made upof: Women and Girls, CoachEducation, EPP Head Coach(Academy) and District has beenestablished.A programme of interactiveevents for CA members is inplace. 2 sessions have takenplace with positive feedback.Sessions on a variety ofsubjects will be delivered toClub Coaches, for help theirongoing development.The CA monthly magazine(Knot Out) has articles providinginformation to assist memberswith their coaching.Women’s and Girls’ cricket isnow represented on theManagement Board.There will be a school-basedKwik Cricket competition givinggirls the chance to play cricketand as a result a playerdevelopment programme hasbeen designed. Each cricketdevelopment group will berunning a six week programmeof activity in the summer and atwelve week programmethrough the winter.Staffordshire enters threeteams into the national ECBcompetitions (U13, U15 andU17) with a development squadat the U11 age group.The senior Women’s Countysquad relies on a strong countyage-group structure to becomesuccessful in the CountyChampionship. StaffordshireCricket Limited has committedfunding for the development ofa high quality playerdevelopment programmemanaged by a minimum Level 3coach.. Wales are planning 11UKCC1 and 5 UKCC2 coursesthis Winter, plus about 20CDWs before May 2012.. Warwickshire have scheduled3 UKCC1, 2 UKCC2, 6 CDWs, 1Club Coach Award, 4 Cricketfor Teachers Courses, 2Secondary School Insets and 4ECB Young Leaders Courses.At the recent AGM, DavidEagle was re-elected asChairman and Gary Steer asSecretary. Alan Hyatt (KingsHeath CC) appointed Treasurer,Richard Daniels (Four OaksSaints CC) is the new ECB CAregional representative, MarkEvenson (S&C), Darren Franklin(South Birmingham), MalcolmHandy (North Birmingham),Andy Wyles (Solihull), KarlBowes (Coventry) and DennisOakes (N&E) are joining thecommittee as arearepresentatives.The WCB CA rewardedcounty, district and communitycoaches by inviting them to theClydesdale Bank Pro40 matchversus Surrey.There will be a three hourworkshop on coaching 7-11 yearolds. Aimed at club coaches itwill cover batting, bowling andgames.. Worcestershire - will run 2UKCC1, 2 UKCC2 courses andall CDWs. Tom Hill (CDO) hasattended Tutor Training and joinsthe workforce of Tutors.Neville Mason (Redditch CC)and Jon Roe have taken over asCA Chairman and Secretaryrespectively until the AGM.All 4 District Development Groupmeetings have been attended,and the groups have beeninvited to inform the CA whatservices they would like.Sky Sports Coach Awards:Les Bishop has been nominatedfor Services to Cricket Award,Gavin Haynes for OutstandingCoaching and Derek Russell forOutstanding Services to Cricket.Retiring President: BobCarter, Chairman: Dennis Duffy,Secretary: Bob Bradley, and SkySports Award nominees weretreated to a day at the Worcs vLancs LV County Championshipmatch, with their partners.Lunch in the marquee, and apresentation made to each.A Workshop / Social eveningwas held at Stourbridge CricketClub on the 13th October, whenBen Smith, Worcs CCC FieldingCoach, talked about his career inthe first class game and alsomodern fielding practices.Ben SmithThe CA’s AGM will be held at theOld Elizabethans CC on the 1stDecember at 7.30pm, includinga demonstration of ‘Howzat’.ECB CA Membership:SOUTH WEST. Cornwall will run 2 UKCC2s,1 either side of Christmas 2011.UKCC4 Coach and UKCC3Tutor, Sean Hooper, delivered 6well attended CDWs.. Devon will run 2 UKCC1, 2UKCC2 courses plus all theCDWs. Scott Chappell hasreturned from Gloucestershireand joins the Coach Educationteam, and Matt Hunt has donehis tutor training / assessing.The Devon Youth CricketFoundation are again offeringsupport to applicants attendingCDWs.Tim Ward, Adam Parker, PatSteward and Trevor Griffin are inthe process of completing theirUKCC3 courses. District wintercoaching programmes areplanned or have already started.District CoachingAssociations were asked, viaDistrict Development Groups, toget clubs to nominatecandidates for the SSCAs, andafter vetting, should make theirnominations to the CA.The CA Chair has attendedand is to attend the remainingDistrict Coaches’ Associationmeetings. The CA met with therepresentatives of the 4Districts, and with Women’s andDisabilities Coaches. An E-newsletter will be publishedbefore Christmas, and thewebsite will continue to beupdated.There will be a 3-6 hourmodule, just before the newcricket season for Club15

Volunteers to give anunderstanding of the basics ofbatting, bowling and fielding aspart of the Raising Standardsprogramme.The West Coaches’Association, in conjunction withtheir existing venue, havestarted using their new facility,partly funded by the ECB, atEstover in Plymouth for theirDistrict coaching programmerun for U9s to U15s during thewinter.Deaf cricket has raised itsprofile, and a deaf cricketer isattending the CDWs intendingto become a Club Coach.Disabilities cricket hascontinued to flourish underPerry Sprung’s guidance.Matt Wood and Jon Pitts, inconjunction with Julian Wyatt,Head of EPP, have devised aprogramme which will be rolledout this winter from U10s toU19s as part of the RaisingStandards programme. It mayalso be adopted by the Districtsand be integrated into clubsand even into some schools. Anextensive consultation has justbeen undertaken with all of theabove and workshops forcoaches will be provided alongwith online resources to helpwith the implementation.. Dorset are running 2 UKCC1courses, 1 UKCC2 course.A half-day conference withthe theme of periodisation inpreparation, for the forthcomingwinter training programmes atdistrict and county levels. Themain speaker was RichardScott, who gave a presentationRichard Scott: “No fastbowling before Christmas”and demonstrations of somekey parts of Middlesex’splanned training regime, (no fastbowling until after Christmas;ensure all aware of what isexpected and the programme;use recorded competitiveactivities to drive up fitnesslevels and skills; and maintain aleague of performance statsthroughout the trainingprogramme). He also gavesome insights into Middlesex’s40 over and 4 day gameobjectives. This was followed byactive batting, bowling, fieldingand keeping activities toprogressively stretch players.The 4 district head coachesare involved in mentoring newLevel 1 and Level 2 coachesand are using some in theirdistrict winter trainingprogrammes. They have a remitto support their local clubs.Dorset coaches are invitedto observe the weekly EPPsessions.3 coaches were nominatedfor Sky Sports Coach Awardsand have enjoyed the regionalreward events.As last year, 12 deservingcoaches (3 from each district)who have made, or are making,a BIG difference to their localclubs will get a £50 voucher tospend at a local cricket supplier(with 10% discount = £500).This will be awarded at theAGM in November.The AGM is scheduled forthe 28th November atWimborne CC.. Gloucestershire haveappointed a new volunteerCoach Education course adminofficer. Running 3 UKCC1 and 2UKCC2 courses pre-Christmas,most fully booked. Possiblymore after Christmas.GCB CA membership hasincreased by 34% since thistime last year.4 District Coaching Coordinators(DCCs) introduced,to support clubs in theirdistricts. Localised workshopshave taken place and more areplanned.Specialist wicket keepingmasterclass workshops weredelivered across the county,benefiting from the experienceof Steve Snell, whose ideas andthought-provoking sessionsstimulated excellent feedbackfrom those attending.Performance programmeextended into U10 and U16 atcounty level, with U12 and U14groups added to Districtperformance programmes.Girls’ programme continuesto expand. An U11 squad hasbeen added to the county agegroups. Hampshire will run 4 ECBYoung Leader courses (1 perdistrict) after Christmas by theHampshire Cricket Board’sCommunity Coaches. Agerange is 14-15 years. One-daysessions. Also 2 sessions pre-Christmas at Perins CommunitySchool, Alresford.The 1st, “Player Profiling”,on 24th November is targetedtowards Level 1, Level 2 and“Club Coaches”. Focussing onthe use of statistics andinformation to plan individualand squad-specific pre-seasonsession-planning. The 3 hourcourse will be delivered by PaulTaylor (Hants U10 Head Coachand UKCC3 coach)The 2nd, a 3 hour workshop“Let’s Play!”, on 4th Decemberis targeted towards Level 1coaches. It will provide gamesand drills for use during thewinter.HCBCA seeking a newchairperson to step into the roleafter the 2012 coachesdevelopment day on the 17thMarch, at the Rose Bowl(further details will be releasedin due course) The CA isgrateful to Keith Whiting for histime & dedication. Interimchairperson, John Cook candiscuss the role in detail.SteveSnell inactionv Kent. Herefordshire will run UKCC2starting 27 November 2011, aUKCC1 starting 8 January 2012,with a further UKCC1 to be heldon week-nights before the startof next season. Also a First Aid& CP course.In July John Stannarddemonstrated the new ‘Howzat’.Members in the north of thecounty are being sought to jointhe CA committee.As Coach Education fundinghas reduced, priority will begiven to candidates involved inWomen’s & Girls coaching.Secondary level priority will begiven to UKCC2 candidates.Alec Backhouse has beennominated for the Sky SportsCoach Awards (Young Coach).Alec is lead coach to the countyU13 squad.A local awards event is beingorganised in conjunction withthe R&R day for C2S and localOSCA nominees.After questionnaire feedbackon local needs, ECB workshopsare planned for the next 12months, and video analysisworkshops based are alsoorganised.There will be a HCB CoachesConference in April 2012. Alsoscheduled: Working withBowlers with video November2011. Working with Batters CDW1 on 16th February 2012.Coach Education and CAwas a major heading at our AllClubs seminar in Oct 2011. H&WCSP will be present to spreadthe word about CoachEducation bursaries & whatother support they offer.16

Holly Penwarden has beenappointed full-time Women’s &Girls Co-ordinator. A Women’s &Girls Forum was set up in April2011. Holly is also looking intohow Disability Cricket can beimproved within the County.Holly has been trained as aECB Tutor and Assessor tocomplement our existing team.Regular pre- and post-coursemeetings have been rewarding.We have also made use of ourFBT, Steve Williams.. Somerset CA membership isnow 277, up 48% since March2010. Newsletters aredistributed bi-monthly andworkshops have been held onthe new ‘Howzat’ and onTactical Batting, run by formerSomerset CCC ProfessionalKeith Parsons (below).Workshops are planned inthe North of the County forMarch / April 2012 to coverSpin Bowling and Fielding /Wicket keeping. In addition, asurvey of active coaches wascarried out by newly appointedCA Chairman Ian Douglas. Intotal, 170 coaches respondedto the survey, providing the CAwith valuable feedback forplanning future coachingactivity.Keith Parsons. Wiltshire will be running 4UKCC1 courses and 1 UKCC2course are during the winter.Wiltshire Cricket have a workingrelationship with AbbeyfieldSchool Chippenham, untilextension work is completed atthe Stanley Park Sports Groundoffices.Wiltshire are looking to getmore representation andcommunication from itsCoaches Association. As aresult, will be looking to run morelocalised committee meetingswithin district head coachprogrammes, to enable bettercommunication between thecoaches and the board.Following on from the lasttwo years of specialist coachingworkshops run out of Devizes,Wiltshire Cricket will deliver morelocalised specialist sessionswithin each districts. This willallow more coaches access tothe “Best practice” and “Addedvalue” required to produce highquality coaching.CharlotteEdwardsDuring August, Chippenham CCsuccessfully hosted its secondMCC Spirit of Cricket Summercamp, this time for girls only.Over sixty girls attended the twodaycamp, which was entirelysupervised and coached by afemale staff of coaches andvolunteers.In September and October,the Swindon Chance to Shineschools were lucky to haveCharlotte Edwards (above)co-delivering sessions with LisaKeightley, Wiltshire DevelopmentOfficer for Women and Girlscricket. In addition to the 10schools already coached duringthe Summer term, morecoaching was given during thefirst six weeks to an additionalten primary schools in support ofa Lady Taverners Indoor PrimarySchool festival that was held atthe Croft Leisure Centre inSwindon in October.ECB CA Membership:LONDON ANDEAST. Bedfordshire will run 1UKCC1, 1 UKCC2 and all 6CDWs, early in 2012.Hartley Bishop will deliver a‘Howzat’ workshop on makingthe most of the new resource.Promising young coachesare needed as assistants toDistrict and BYC Countycoaches, picking up experienceand broaden their skills set asyoung coaches.Sky Sports Coach Awardsnominees: Harvinder Singh,who recently achieved ECBHead Coach status, andGraeme Presswell, whoreceived the regional award forOutstanding Contribution andServices to Cricket Coaching.Steve Stubbings, exDerbyshire CCC, (below) gaveCA members a masterclassworkshop, identifying key areasto look for in young batters.A rise in CA membershipnumbers, having recruited newmembers from CoachEducation courses.The BCA website is beingimproved so members canaccess coaching sessions /plans / drills and developmentswithin coaching.Chairman, Paul Oakins,visited local clubs to offeradvice and find out how the CAcan better support them.Beds are looking to appointa Table Cricket Tutor to helpwith the development of thegame.. Cambridgeshire will run 3UKCC1 courses: 2 inCambridge and 1 shared withNorfolk in Kings Lynn, plus 1UKCC2 course in SaffronWalden. Planning 2 coachingevents during the winter, andworkshop on making the mostof the new ‘Howzat’.There will be a CA Golf Dayand Christmas Dinner inDecember.. Hertfordshire will be running3 UKCC1 and 1 UKCC2courses.The Hertfordshire CA AGMwas held on 22 September: newofficers and committeemembers elected to representthe 4 county districts.Three coaches werenominated for the Sky SportsCoach Awards. They wereJonathan Mather: OutstandingContribution and Services toCricket Coaching; JamesHewitt: Outstanding CoachingAchievement; and ChrisDunsby: Young Coach of theYear.During the OSCAspresentation night awards werepresented to various coachesfor their achievements.Steve Stubbings17

Sharing best practice forstarting and running a cricketacademy during the winter toimprove the skills andperformances of the players.Andy Moore (completing hisMasters in Research onperformance analysis, havinggraduated from a sports studiesdegree) will give a presentationin identifying key performanceindicators within elite T20cricket using performanceanalysis.A Cricket Conference isplanned for 13th November,where special master classesfor bowling and batting will beheld with players from thecounty. From the lastconference the Hertfordshirecoaches wanted to see moremaster classes.Most successful season everfor County Age-Group teams.U17 boys won the final of theECB County Cup BCompetition, beating Norfolk inthe final. The U15 boys reachedthe ECB County Cup final,losing out to Norfolk in the final.The U12 boys were championsat the Ipswich Festival. The U13girls also won the ECB EastLeague.The Women’s team had theirmost successful season sincethe re-structuring of theleagues. Losing to Durham inthe final game of the seasonsaw Durham get promoted andHertfordshire finish second.. Huntingdonshire is currentlyrunning a UKCC2 course.In addition to winning a SkySports OutstandingContribution and Services toCricket Coaching award thisyear, Pete Waughman, (a Level2 coach from Houghton andWyton CC) after beingnominated by his club won theHunts Post (a local paper)September’s ‘Unsung HeroAward’ for his for services tolocal sport.Currently planning for thenext HCB CA annualconference day and AGM forearly December.HCB CA are in the processof developing a plan to helpsupport Hunts Howzat CC,which is predominantly a clubfor adults with a range ofdisabilities. It has been runningfor a few years with adecreasing core of volunteers.. ICC Europe delivered 16UKCC1 and 13 UKCC2courses, 6 CDWs, 3 ClubCoach Awards: 3 and 16 Introto Cricket courses. Andplanning an additional 16UKCC1, 10 UKCC2, 36 CDWsand 12 Intro to Cricket courses.Development of the StraightLines Newsletters frominformation to education (Issue8). The Straight Lines newformat is now ready and will beused. Previous Issues are onthe Website.Workforce Development andDelivery Plan: the focus wasaround the ICC Introduction toCricket Tutors, which createspotential to build and developcapacity within each country.100% of Associate and 75% ofAffiliate members are able todeliver the ICC Introduction toCricket Course in their country.Coach Education Forums viaSkype: this is a continuedsuccess for Europe. This hascreated open discussionsaround Coach Developmentand Education. We havecreated a consistent messageand have developed a goodnetwork of people which willspread the games messageacross Europe‘Howzat!’: Translation of the9 languages is complete. Alongwith other ICC Europedocuments and the translatedLaws of Cricket (in partnershipwith MCC), the update will besent to all ‘Howzat!’ users laterin the year. This again willcreate a good opportunity todevelop coach understanding.The ‘Howzat!’ resource willbecome the centre of alleducation for coaches.Therefore it is essential thatcoaches who have the‘Howzat!’ resource use this.Coach ConsultantProgramme Report; JohnStannard’s Role: PilotProgramme with Ireland,Scotland, Netherlands,Denmark, France, Netherlands,Jersey and GuernseyKey Outcomes from theSupport Programme:1. Development of a clearunderstanding of the ICCEurope Coach EducationPathway and how it links withthe ECB. (Player Environmentand Coaching Courses). Whydo we develop coaches?2. Development of a strategyfor promoting courses incountry.3. Delivering a high qualityexperience (pre-, during, andpost- course).4. Development of a plan forsupporting coaches (CA)5. Development of a workforce(tutors, etc)The overall programme hasbeen a success. John has beenable to visit all MemberCountries and has developeda clear understanding of theCoach Developmentenvironment in Europe.Distance support has beenoffered and promotion of theECB CA has been a key factor.2012 European CoachesConference ‘Potential toPerformance’.In 2011 ICC Europedelivered a CoachesConference, ‘Coaching theChanging Game’, with the aimof developing a coach’sunderstanding of how the gameis changing. Following a reviewof the event, ICC Europe will behosting another CoachesConference, which will beaimed at the performance level.The Conference will again beheld in Guernsey, 13th to 15thJanuary, at the Guernsey IndoorCricket Centre. The Conferenceaims to offer continuousperformance development forour leading performancecoaches. The conference alsodelegates a good opportunity tomeet other coaches of a similarlevel to discuss and developstyles / approaches and ideasfor coaching.. Kent will be running 5UKCC1, 4 UKCC2 courses andthe full set of CDWs.It is planned to introduce aContinuing ProfessionalDevelopment programme, withpoints being awarded tocoaches for attending variouscomponents to maintain andenhance current coachingqualifications and status. Thiswill help coaches to create arealistic programme to fullyrealise their potential.Kent held their 2012 SkySports hospitality event at theCounty ground, and achieved agood level of nominations ineach category. Certificateswere presented by PeterRobinson.Angus Fraser18

A Coach Developmentweekend takes place onSaturday 19 and Sunday 20November. Saturday is aimedat county age-group anddistrict age-group coaches,Sunday at those more recentlyqualified. Local CArepresentatives, Darren Bull,Richard Durrant and OllySummerfield, arecommunicating with membersand gaining an insight into theirvarious aspirations and helpingto address issues.. Middlesex - 11 first-classcricketers attended the 6CDWs and then were assessedfor the Club Coach Award.They shared their experiencesof working with some of thebest names in coaching,reflecting on who had made adifference to them and why.All Level 2 candidates wereinvited into the MiddlesexIndoor Cricket Centre tocomplete CRBs and Life-savingcourses.All were introduced to thenew ‘Howzat’ resource.The CA are developing theuse of social media sites to beable to communicate effectivelywith members.Sky Sports Coach Awardsnominations were receivedfrom most colts clubs, with 3deserving coaches selected togo through to possible nationalhonours.A curry lunch for memberswas held with Angus Fraser,Middlesex Director of Cricket.He thanked them for all theirefforts and reminded them thatthey are the starting point forevery young cricketer on theplaying pathway to excellence.Academy Director, GraemeWest, addressed coachesabout their importance in thetalent identification process,with particular reference toyoung players who have anoutstanding technique andattitude rather than those whohave been successful simplybecause they have developedquicker physically.Another coach’s dinner isplanned for January andMiddlesex coaches day in April.Mark O’Neill, the countyclub’s batting coach, said howenjoyable it was working withclub coaches and is keen to dosome more next year.Over the past 6 years there hasbeen significant increases inopportunities for women andgirls.Five clubs are being set upto cater for the needs of peoplewith a disability. Many of ourmainstream colts clubs havebeen more inclusive in givingopportunities to play.Mark O’Neill. Norfolk will be running 2UKCC1 courses and 1 UKCC2course, as well as WIS, C4T, YLand CDWs, plus ‘Howzat’Orientation, Creating the rightenvironment, AcquiringTechnical Skills, and Strengthand Conditioning for Cricketers.Tom Davies is now trainedand will be an excellentaddition to the Norfolk CB TutorWorkforce.Norfolk CA won NationalTutor Team of the Year.Congratulations to Chris Brown(NCB Performance Manager)and his team of Mick Piggott,Tom Davies, James Campell-Johnston and Chris Dalton.Norfolk U14s/U17s reachedthe national finals (1-daycompetition). Norfolk GirlsU13/U15s reached the nationalsemi-finals.Following the continuedsuccess of the EPP, Norfolk CBhave a Centre of ExcellenceProgramme (U11-U14) to fitunderneath the EPP to cementthe player pathway.Chris Brown (NCBPerformance Manager) waslead Spin Coach for the ICCAmericas Academy in 2011.. Suffolk will deliver 2 UKCC1,2 UKCC2 and 2 Young Leadercourses, plus 1 set of CDWsand Club Coach assessment.Help is required at locallevel to secure indoor venues ata sensible cost. This is provinga real issue this winter.A mini learning day will beheld in December. Two FirstClass coaches will attend toimpart knowledge, includinglunch and presentation ofawards.The Board is to beincorporated from late 2011.Continued progress, withmore girls sides planned andfurther development of Suffolk’shearing impaired squad.. Surrey will be delivering thefull range of Coach Educationcourses over the winter fromYoung Leaders through toCDWs.A Club Coach MentoringScheme was launched thissummer: 15 clubs received helpand support from anexperienced coach appointedby Surrey CA. This involved 4visits from the Mentor to assistthe club with planning, workingwith individual coaches andcreating specialist coachingsessions to address anyidentified need at the club. Theprogramme was well receivedand will be rolled out in 2012.Nominations were collectedfor Sky Sports Coach Awards.The awards evening was heldin conjunction with the OSCAsat the Kia Oval during theSurrey vs Northants CB40match in August.Pitchvision ran a freeworkshop for CA members,entitled ‘Creating StrikeBowlers’, attended by 35coaches.This winter will see thelaunch of an exciting newinitiative. The Jim Laker LegacyProject will give coaches theopportunity to be upskilled onSurrey and Englandspin bowling legendJim Lakerall aspects of spin bowling,including batting against andkeeping to spinners.Mushtaq AhmedIn association with Sky Sports anumber of members had theopportunity to attend workshopsdelivered by Andy Flower andMushtaq Ahmed (above).. Sussex - During the winter of2010/11 all 6 CDWs, with a total21 coaches participating. TheECB Club Coach Assessmentsessions followed during theSpring of 2011, with 7 sessionsbeing held, producing 15 newECB Club Coaches for Sussex.Three members of theManagement Forum werenominated for the 2011 NatwestOSCAs: David Lewry (Chairmanand retiring co-ordinator forCounty Coach DevelopmentOperations), Andy Smith(Secretary and ECB CA RegionalRepresentative) and JohnWoodford (Co-ordinator for theAnnual Coaches ConferenceDay). David Lewry emerged as aworthy winner of the ‘League andBoards’ category.19

Is your CriminalRecords BureauCheck (CRB)due for renewal?As all ECB CA memberswill be aware, the ECBnow requires all qualifiedcoaches affiliated to theCoaches Association tohold a current valid ECBCRB Disclosurecertificate (ECB VettingCheck).ECB CRB checks are validfor three years from theissue date and therefore, ifyou do not currently hold anup-to-date ECB CRBDisclosure Certificate, youwill not be eligible formembership of the ECB CAin January 2012 and yourmembership status cannotbe renewed. Please ensurethat your ECB CRB renewalis completed before thebeginning of January. As avalued member of theAssociation, you will agree,we trust, that completion ofthis form is of the utmostimportance as it enables youto access all the benefitsthat being a member of theECB CA brings.More information about ECBCRB checks and about howto renew can be obtainedfrom The Media Group(TMG) on 0115 969 4603.The awards continue to go from strengthto strength, facilitating an opportunity forus to say thank you to people who havemade and continue to make a significantcontribution to the support anddevelopment of cricket coaching.In addition to inviting both County and RegionalWinners to five International Cricket Matchesthroughout the summer, we have invited theseregional winners to the Long Room at Lord’sECB CA ConferenceIt is with regret we inform the members thatthe ECB CA National Conference has beenpostponed from January 2012 to a date laterin the year yet to be confirmed.The Conference theme is around meaningful andinnovative practice and has been designed tocelebrate the success of the national sidebecoming number one in the world and will featuresome of the thinking and practical ideasinstrumental in that achievement for the benefit ofcoaches across the game. With changes to the2010 Young Coachof the Year, MikeBohndiek, receivinghis certificate fromDavid ParsonsSky Sports Coach Awards 2011Cricket Ground on Saturday 10th December 2011for a black tie dinner ceremony.Our young coaches will attend a coaching day ledby David Parsons, the Performance Director and histeam, at the National Cricket Performance Centre atLoughborough University on 21st November 2011.If you know of anyone who deserves recognition,log on to www.ecbca.co.uk and make yournominations online.England Lions programme for January next year,many of ECB’s key coaching staff would not havebeen available, and with regret the decision hasbeen made to put the Conference back to whenthere is a better chance of securing the expertiserequired to meet the Conference aims.We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience thismay cause members and County Boards. We hopethat you understand that we are committed toserving the Coaches Association members’ bestinterests at all times and have made this difficultdecision to ensure we can give you the highestpossible quality Conference for your enjoyment.Have you registered for ‘Howzat’?January 2011 saw the release of arguablythe world’s leading Coaching and CoachEducation resource to all ECB CAmembers. The ‘Howzat’ resource utilisesa unique access code enabling yourpersonal copy to be installed on your ownPC or laptop. ‘Howzat’ provides abespoke tool for developing the technical,tactical, mental and physical facets inplayers across the first three stages ofplayer development. Support withregistering the resource can be sought byemailing support@tacklesport.com oraccessing www.ecbhowzat.com20