Observations on Batting Techniques, Coaching & Fitness

down in a very good demonstration of limitedovers cricket played in beautiful conditionsat Lincoln. Three Otago players – left-armspinner Nick Beard, wicketkeeper/batsmanMichael Bracewell and opening bat HamishRutherford – won selection in the NewZealand team which finished a highlycreditable third in the U19 World Cup inMalaysia.The Otago U17s competed doggedly and thenational tournament would have been a biglearning experience for most of them whichis great. The team’s only win came at theexpense of the tournament winner Canterbury,which says a lot about the evenness of teamsat this level. It was also a reminder of theneed to be careful when judging the successor otherwise of a team. The cricketers in thisside derived huge benefits from playing onfast, even wickets with quick outfields andagainst good opposition. This was evident inthe more thoughtful way many of them wentabout their cricket on their return. From thatpoint of view, a successful tournament for thisgroup of players.up matches, catering, running players around.They deservedly share the satisfaction of thisseason’s successes.Finally, it has been exciting to see theprogress up the umpiring ranks of two formerOtago cricketers, Derek Walker and ChrisGaffeney. Derek is now an established firstclassumpire and his elevation to four in therankings is well-merited. Chris is in his firstseason at first-class level and he has createda very favourable impression.The experience of our U15 cricketers whostruggled to compete with their Canterburycounterparts was another reminder of theneed to create some depth in our cricketby offering quality playing and coachingprogrammes. Given the standard of play indistrict and locals competitions, it is often ahuge step up to representative cricket formany of our players.The same is true for our girl cricketers. Thereis a lot of enthusiasm, and the challenge isto provide meaningful competitions at a locallevel, and opportunities for coaching, to pushthe players along.Otago Cricket has moved in the right directionby targeting suitable candidates to undertakethe NZC Level 1 coaching course. Twentyfivecoaches, many of them current players,were put through the course this season.Several have already helped coach districtrepresentative squads.Cricket in Otago has always been well servedby volunteers. It is humbling to see thenumber of people who give back so willinglyto the game, be it coaching, scoring, setting