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“We targetpeople whoWANT tostudy. Webuild ourCULTUREaroundTHAT.All of ourscholarshipholders arestudying, andmost of theplayers at theclub are eitherstudying at theuniversity, orhave studied.”of stability to the team. They’ve beenvery good at instilling pride in the cluband creating a standard of play that’snow expected of our players. Theirexpectations of themselves are highand that rubs off on the people aroundthem. The expectation in the topgrades now is that you have to raiseyour game to that level or you won’tstay in the team.”Then there’s been the sharpimprovement of the University’s pitches,particularly Number One Oval. Back inthe dark days, the Sydney Uni strip wasdreaded on the grade circuit. Slow, lowand grassless, it was back-breaking forbowlers and frustrating for batsmen.As Phelps argues, it was a pitch thatproduced poor cricket: “It meant thataverage cricketers could get awaywith playing an average game.” Now,however, Ray Hunt and his ground staffhave crafted a deck that is hard andwell-grassed; a strip that rewards bothMiddle-order batsman Nick Larkin takes it to theBankstown attack.aggressive bowling and intent batting.As Phelps says, “The ball’s bouncing,the keeper’s standing back, batsmen canplay their cross-batted shots, and that’smeant we’ve been able to play somegood attacking cricket that’s allowed usto dominate other teams.”But the true driving force behind theclub’s success has been the creation ofthe Elite Athlete Program. This programsees 28 young cricketers training 48weeks of the year under the guidance ofDirector of Cricket and full-time coachGary Whitaker. And, as Whitaker says,the key to this program is a “holisticview of preparation” – it’s not simplyabout grinding out hour after hour in thenets. During the off-season, the programfocuses on strength and conditioningin the gym, and education in fieldslike nutrition, psychology and sportsscience. As the season approaches,the focus shifts to technical work in thenets, honing skills specific to the game.During the season, the focus movesto simulating the weekend’s battles incentre wicket practices, and studyingfootage of games recorded at NumberOne Oval. It’s a remarkably thoroughprogram. And the 28 young cricketersinvolved in it - training throughoutthe year at a professional level - havebecome the motor that’s powered theclub’s success.Beyond this, however, the Elite AthleteProgram has also become a magnet inattracting young talent to the University.As Phelps says, “If kids want to playcricket in Sydney, then we’ve got thebest program for them. We can offerstrength and conditioning, we can offera full-time coach. No other programhas 20 young cricketers lifting weightsat six o’clock in the morning, or runningup sandhills, or doing pilates – all thesethings make their game better. If you’rea young cricketer and someone cameto you and said, here’s our program– compare it to the rest, I don’t thinkany good young cricketer wanting toimprove could say no.” Whitaker agrees:“The only other program that’s similar tothis in scope is the program that’s run atCricket Australia’s Centre of Excellencein Brisbane.”As Phelps stresses, however, the aimis not simply to attract good cricketers:“We target people who want to study.We build our culture around that. All ofour scholarship holders are studying,and most of the players at the club areeither studying at the university, or havestudied. So our culture’s built aroundpeople who are highly educated. Werecruit good people and good playerswho want to study – that’s the basis ofour criteria.” Given this attitude, it’s littlesurprise the club also won the Spirit ofCricket Award last year, a recognitionof outstanding on-field conduct acrossthe grades. “It’s a fantastic effort,” saysWhitaker, “to not only support a winningculture, but to support it with the rightvalues. This program doesn’t just makethese kids better cricketers, it makesthem better people.”Sydney Uni’s Cricket Club is now inthe happy position where success willbreed success. With its chassis of oldheads and its motor of young talent, theclub’s reputation as the dominant forcein Sydney grade cricket is concreted.And this bodes well for the future. “Ithink the real strength of our program,”says Phelps, “is that we can say to youngblokes: look at the players you get toplay with. You get to learn from a guylike Greg Mail who’s scored 11,000 runsin first grade; you get to learn from aguy like Ian Moran who’s won three firstgrade premierships with the club. Youget to learn how to play proper cricket.That’s the strength of our program.”WWW.SUSF.COM.AU 15