Coaching Newsletter.indd

COACH
MATTERS
AUTUMN 2015
Re-launch of Cricket Scotland Coaches
Association
Q&A with Cricket Scotland Head Coach
Grant Bradburn
How are the New UKCC2 Certificate
Courses being Received?
Are Your Players Getting Their
5 a Day?
Re-launch of Cricket Scotland Coaches Association
After some years in the wilderness Cricket Scotland
were pleased to announce the re-launch of the Cricket
Scotland Coaches Association in June 2015.
As you know, quality coaching is fundamental to the
development of our players and the game within
Scotland. We hope that the Coaches Association will help
foster improved standards of coaching across all levels
and create a sharing culture of best practice and support
as we all strive to develop the best people and players
we can.
What has changed?
Cricket Scotland Coaches Association will provide support and guidance specific to Scottish coaches.
We will still remain partners with ECBCA and ICC Europe, but will now have control of what support we
provide Scottish coaches. The key changes are:
Joining the CSCA will be done through Cricket Scotland
Funding will be returned into coach development opportunities delivered locally
All communication will be conducted through the CSCA
Future benefits will be bespoke to CSCA members
How much does it cost and what are the
benefits?
You can join the CSCA for £40 per year and receive
the benefits outlined below:
Insurance cover (1st January to 31st December)
Coach Matters – Cricket Scotland Coaching
Newsletter
ECB’s Wings to Fly DVD
Cricket Scotland Skill Awards on a Cricket
Scotland USB
Free place on a regional coaching forum day*
covering the following skill areas:
Pace Bowling & Spin Bowling
Batting
Athletic Development
Fielding, Analysis & Wicketkeeping
How can I join?
To become a member please fill in an application
form, along with payment, and return to Cricket
Scotland Coach Education. Member packs will
only be sent once a completed application and full
payment has been received.
All the information can be found on the Cricket
Scotland website in the ‘Get Involved’ section.
We hope you take this opportunity to join the CSCA
and be part of the development of cricket coaching
in Scotland.
*Candidates must register for workshops one week prior to the day. Forums will take place on a regional basis (East, West,
Central & North)
Coach Matters
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Q & A with Cricket Scotland Head Coach Grant Bradburn
The 2014 Cricket World Cup –
Our Coach’s Perspective
Sum up your general feelings on how the World
Cup went?
Absolutely gutted that we didn’t get over the line
and quite do enough to earn a win. The CWC was
so valuable to us all in showing us where the bar of
international cricket lies. At times we weren’t far away
from that line which has given me clear guidance as
coach of taking our skills to the required levels.
Were there any differences in the squad’s
preparation for the World Cup in comparison to
other competitions?
We always are aiming to theme each campaign in
terms of how we prepare. The CWC was different
in that coming out of a busy county season in
2014 we needed to balance preparation with rest,
recovery and re strengthening. Essentially we had
15 individual programmes in place for our players,
helping guide and deliver their own individual
needs. There is always a balance I look to strike here
with providing what a player needs and pushing
forward the skill development I think they need
within the role we want them to play. The pre tour
down under in Sept/Oct was really valuable, not so
much in terms of game time, but time together to
set up our values, game plans and individual roles
while allowing our culture as a team to form.
From a fitness point of view our goal was to be
fitter than ever before. To do this we wanted to do
things in our training that we’d never done before
and things we knew the opposition just wouldn’t
do. Our Facebook challenge on New Years’ day was
one example where players were challenged to post
evidence of their 1st 2015 workout statement. We
had all sorts of brilliant ideas and workouts that were
posted that gave everyone a morale boost to know
their team mates were putting in the hard yards
early on New Year’s morning.
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Autumn 2015
What was your pre match routine?
We aim to be calm and relaxed on game day. If the
work is done, pre match is about getting the mind
and heart into the challenge and trusting that the
boxes of preparation have been ticked.
Do you have any superstitions as a coach?
Only that I’m superstitious about not being
superstitious. I like to always learn and am conscious
of knowing there is never one way - so I don’t believe
in superstitions.
How do you deal with managing pressures that
the World Cup brings?
It was important for us as staff to be the rocks.
That’s not always easy when at times we were ducks
ourselves (calm on the surface & paddling flat out
under the water). The players handle and reveal
pressures in different ways - some start yapping,
some go quiet, some get emotional and some
hibernate. It is the skill of the staff to read individuals
and provide the “comfort or the kick” - depending
on who needs what at what time.
How did you deal with attempting to bridge
the gap between test playing nations and
yourselves? And what was your key areas you
identified?
We must continue to be smart learners from the
minimal experiences we are afforded. We can’t
hide from or deny the gap is huge. As a leading
associate nation we simply don’t play nearly enough
international cricket for our players to adapt and feel
at home at the top level as yet. For us it will simply
take longer with the lack of quality international
exposure we have. The first game of the CWC was
a good example of how big the experience gap
is between the top 10 nations and the associates.
The New Zealand side we faced had a combined
1200 more international one day games to draw
experience from while one player (Daniel Vettori)
had played more one day cricket than our whole
squad of 15 put together. These are not excuses but
facts, so we must do all we can to keep improving
our game with better training facilities, being expert
learners and maximising our skills.
At the CWC all associates contested the top 10
nations like never before. The gap is closing. Fielding
is one obvious area where I believe Scotland are
making big gains. Our bat/ball skills are there, but
we lacked the experience to deliver our skills for
longer periods. I feel the success we have had in
T20 this season is a direct result of the learnings
we have implemented from the CWC. The squad
are continuing to gather skills and experience, plus
with addition of some new faces, there is a healthy
competition for starting places.
What would you say are the current trends in
limited overs cricket, and how do you feel these
trends impact on Scottish Cricket?
The white ball game is becoming faster and more
dynamic, which is exactly the direction our Scotland
side are moving. Our conditions at home in Scotland
won’t simulate the challenges international
cricketers face on the world stage of real pace
and dry/hard spinning surfaces. We can’t ignore
those skills though and we must simulate learning
opportunities to develop those skills. Playing spin
is one area that we have worked extremely hard
on over the past 12 months. We now see a real
confidence across the squad in the way we play
spin.
With England on our door step, I have seen that the
Scotland A programme is an incredibly valuable
part of our development of international players.
Learning to adapt to different conditions and
situations is fantastic for developing our most
promising players. We must continue to tap into that
asset on our doorstep that is English County Cricket.
With the Scotland vs Afghanistan result being
so close, how do you as a coach deal with
disappointment, and getting the team to bounce
back?
We were all absolutely gutted. I felt for the players
and my fellow staff - everyone had put so much into
our campaign and this was a game that we felt we
deserved to win. We knew that a win v Afghanistan
would have given the confidence and boost to take
our next performances to new levels, but it wasn’t
to be. As coach I tend to have a simple philosophy
of comforting when we lose and challenging when
we win. The players needed time for that result to
digest and we needed to allow and support that
process. Once we moved on to Nelson we needed
to refresh and refocus, so prescribing a couple of
quieter days where the whole touring party could
switch off was important and proved valuable for us.
There is always a time to plan forward and a time to
reflect, but I didn’t allow too much time for either.
Our business was one day at a time and we simply
wanted everyone to focus on being better prepared
and better players each and every day. With a team
of quality characters, willing to learn and work hard
with a good sense of humour I was very proud of
the fact that the team dusted themselves down and
lined up for each and every game as prepared as we
could hope to be.
Being away from home and families for so long,
how do you and the team relax/switch off from
cricket?
We have quite a few golfers in the crew - some think
they are good! We also have a couple of guitarists,
some bad singers and 1 or 2 DJ’s who manage to
survive the wrath of the bus requests. We love to
have a team room where people can hang out and
catch up, play table tennis or cards. There’s always a
crew going to Nandos (I’m sure our guys keep them
in business) and generally there is always a coffee
group congregating where they can smell good
coffee.
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Do you have a coaching mantra that you
swear by?
There is no one recipe, so no. I’m big on empowering,
learning and continual improvement and that
includes me, so I’m always open to new ideas. I try
to be me - not coach how I think I’m supposed to.
I’ve become more confident in what I do to make
High Performance environments successful and
I understand now that there is a whole spectrum
of conversations, encouragements, challenges that
I am involved in directly or indirectly by empowering
my staff or players. My current role as Scotland coach
has provided lots of challenges and golden learning
so far even after one year. I came here knowing none
of the players or staff, so facilitating an environment
where players and staff can be the best they can be
is the goal and I’m proud of the fact we are a long
way down that track.
What are your comparisons between the Scottish
game and that compared to New Zealand?
The traditional club game here in Scotland is fantastic
with some amazing club grounds and strong history.
New Zealand has a strong first class system and
being a small country there is also clear pathways
for youngsters to progress through to that level and
beyond to the BLACKCAPS. In Scotland, we don’t
have that first class level of cricket as a breeding
ground for our international players, so we have to
be creative here. That means creating good coaching
systems and also providing playing opportunities in
England and abroad for our players to gain the much
needed experiences of international conditions and
opposition.
What were your biggest challenges pre/during/
after the WC or since taking on the Head Coach
role in Scotland?
One of the biggest challenges has been the fact
that we don’t have a squad that is together full time.
With half of our players based in England at various
County’s, I have to accept as coach that I will have
very little input with some players outside of our
Scotland games and tours. That simply means our
communication needs to be excellent and our roles
and plans simple and clear so that players can come
into our environment with ease.
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Autumn 2015
Another major challenge has been indoor facilities to
train. We have been lucky to have 2-3 club grounds
providing excellent grass facilities for Scotland
squad training, but when it rains we have no indoor
facilities to call our own. A dedicated Cricket Scotland
indoor facility would be a huge asset to our playing
programme and enable skills to be developed so
much faster.
Grant Bradburn
Cricket Scotland Head Coach
How are the New UKCC2 Certificate Courses being Received?
Following many years of research by the ECB, the Community Coaching pathway was changed to reflect
a more player centred approach to coach education.
As you should have seen, or experienced if you’ve been through the courses, the pathway has been split
into two strands ‘Children’ for those coaches working with children aged generally 13 & below, and the
‘Young People & Adults’ for those working with those aged 14+. Both of these certificate courses are
designated at UKCC2 Level.
We have now delivered 9 of these courses to 98 candidates across the country. Therefore, we have been
able to collate some feedback from candidates and tutors involved on how they have found the changes
to the pathway.
Tutors Perspective – Kari Carswell
Kari is the Cricket Scotland Women’s
Cricket Manager and also National
Women’s Team Coach. She is an
accredited ECB Tutor and has
considerable experience in delivering
on the old level 2 courses and now
on the certificate courses in the new
pathway. Below are some of her
comments regarding the courses and
her experiences as a tutor.
“The preparation pre-course is
always the most daunting bit, making
sure you have all the resources and
simple things like making sure your
projector works are the things that
make me nervous! You are trying
to agree with your co-tutor who is
going to lead on what bit. Naturally tutors have
different styles, so making sure you complement
each other is something that I think is quite
important, almost like good cop/bad cop.
It’s always quite nerve wracking turning up for
the first day of a coach education course, you
don’t know the candidates and they don’t know
you. By the lunchtime of the first day things settle
down and you just go with the flow.
The coaching children and coaching young
people and adult courses are delivered very
differently from the old style UKCC 2 Coach
Award course. There is more flexibility in how
you deliver and the notes aren’t as regimented,
but at first it was quite scary to think of practices
and drills that meet the requirements of the
learning outcomes.
I really like the new format of the courses, it’s
much more realistic to what is practically possibly
in club land and is something that coaches, who
are primarily volunteers, can relate to. There is an
increase in the amount of time that you need to
spend doing various tasks away from tutor lead
days, but the online resources are fantastic and
on completion of the course, the experience that
the coach should get is world class.”
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Club Perspective – Glenrothes CC as a case study
Glenrothes CC are one of the fastest growing clubs in Scotland. They have just earned promotion to the CSL
Eastern Premier League and are working hard to establish more coaches at the club to grow the number of
local players coming through the ranks. Glenrothes had enough candidates wanting to do the Certificate in
Coaching Children Course that they were able to host a course at the club for their club members.
Below are some thoughts from Glenrothes club member Kenny Crichton who went through the Children’s
Course.
“Glenrothes cricket club has taken huge strides
over the last few years. Initially Glenrothes
CC had only 2 XI’s and no junior section at the
club. The club has now grown substantially, and
we are now proud to boast our 5 XI’s as well as
the creation of our junior section known as the
‘Gladiators’.
With any club no matter what size, you need
access to good, quality coaching, and at
Glenrothes we have been lucky enough to have
10 people (including players, ex-players and
parents) take on and complete the new level 2
coach education coaching course.
I personally have taken part in one of these
courses and have found it to be fantastic. The
tutors had full knowledge of what they were
presenting and made the course as fun as they
possibly could. It definitely put you through your
paces too, which was great. You were constantly
being challenged, and always had to think about
how you would adapt to certain situations at
different times.
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Autumn 2015
I feel that Glenrothes CC has definitely gained
and developed as a result of our members
and volunteers completing their coaching
qualifications. The knowledge, expertise and
advice that our coaches can now offer our club is
invaluable, particularly when looking at the recent
creation and growth of our junior Gladiator section.
I would highly recommend participating in
the new Coach Education coaching courses,
particularly to anyone who would like to further
develop and grow their own club, or potentially
start off a career in coaching cricket.”
Are Your Players Getting Their 5 a Day?
Thoughts from Cricket Scotland Strength and Conditioning Coach, Simon Smith
No, we’re not talking about fruit and veg – although
healthy eating is of course important. We’re
talking movement. Break down any sport specific
movement or posture, and you’ll see that there are
a small number of foundation movements on which
all others are based. Want to run, hop, skip, jump,
land, strike and throw? Then you need to be able to
squat, lunge and brace.
Squat movements develop the ability to flex and
extend at ankle, knee and hip. Lunge movements
develop the ability to transfer weight from one leg
to the other. Bracing is the ability to be stable during
motion. You’d be hard pushed to find a sport specific
movement or posture that doesn’t require these.
As coaches we’re in a hugely privileged position –
our players have chosen a game they enjoy, and they
come to us to learn about it and develop their skills.
Our contact time with them is gold, and we must
make the most of every moment. We have a fantastic
opportunity to make a real and lasting positive
impact on our players’ development as cricketers,
athletes and people.
Cricket is moving forward at a hectic pace. To succeed
at the top level batters need to be able to score all
around the wicket and clear the ropes. Fast bowlers
need to be able to bowl at speeds approaching
150kph. Spinners need to be able to deliver their
stock balls and variations with repeatable excellence.
Fielders need to have expert anticipation, be able to
dive, and throw fast and accurately over distances up
to 60 metres. Keepers, the best and most important
players on the team of course, need to be agile and
adjust technique to cope with swing, seam, spin,
bounce and pace. And often this decision-making
and skill execution needs to take place at above 80%
of maximum heart rate. To succeed on the world
stage a player needs to be an athlete in every sense.
Of course our players don’t need to be able to do all
of this from day one. They’re on a journey. And it’s
our coaching skills and the Curriculum for Excellence
that are going to help them along the road. That,
and the recognition of one crucial point: that they
need to have the physical capabilities in place ahead
of the cricket skills. Or, to look at it the other way
round: in order to express the cricket skills required
of them on the stage, they need firstly to have the
physical capacity to acquire those skills.
Which brings us back to our foundation movements.
We’ve already mentioned squat, lunge and brace.
The others are push, pull, rotate and hinge. Each
of these has its own continuum, progressing from
simple through to more complex variations. If our
players are getting to grips with these movement
streams, they’ll be better equipped to acquire their
cricket skills and develop into efficient, consistent,
resilient athletes in the arena.
So how do we as coaches take care of the athletic
development of our players as well as their cricketing
development? The good news is that these go very
naturally hand-in-hand, don’t involve a doubling of
our workload or contact time, and the resources are
being developed to help make it easy for us to do it
well.
We’ve been developing an Athletic Development
Programme to run alongside the Curriculum for
Excellence, and have begun sharing this with the
coaching community through practical modules
integrated into the coach education programme –
which will continue and develop through the next
cycle of courses.
Next, through our partnership with our friends at
Salaso, coaches will have access to an online resource
including example sessions and templates, ideas for
warm ups, cool downs and movement modules,
and a vast video library of movement progressions
to use with players. Coaches will be able to see
clearly where they fit into the overall journey, and
what contribution they can make to preparing their
players for the next stage. There will be practical
coaching tools too, such as the simple Athletic
Ability Assessment (AAA), which will tell coaches all
they need to know about the players in their care,
how to cater for their needs, and how to chart their
progress.
All of this will continue to roll out over the coming
months, so stay tuned through all the usual
channels – including the new addition to the Cricket
Scotland Twitter family, @CS_SandC – for news of
developments.
It’s well known that there are windows of opportunity
during a child’s development in which the brain
and the body are particularly open to developing
certain capacities. But since every child is different,
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how can we be sure not to miss any of these windows
when they’re open? Simply by making sure there’s
meaningful stuff going on throughout.
Which brings us back to our five a day. If we can
devote time in each session to developing five of the
foundation movements, and keep relating them to
the sport and how they can improve performance,
we’ll be putting the big rocks in first, and developing
the intrinsic motivation within our players to continue
improving their athleticism day-in, day-out, on their
own time – in turn developing the work ethic and
discipline which are so important for success – not
only in cricket but in all sports, and indeed life.
Squat
Side Brace
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Autumn 2015
And that’s our job as coaches. Everyone follows their
own path, and if we’re not preparing them for a life in
high performance cricket, we may be preparing them
for a life in high performance in some other sport –
or maybe lifelong enjoyment and participation in
recreational sport – or maybe no sport at all. Either
way, we’ve prepared them for an active and healthy
lifestyle with good nutritional and postural habits,
functional strength and the ability to carry out
everyday tasks. We’re not only developing the next
generation of Scotland cricketers, we’re developing
the next generation of Scots – let’s enjoy that
responsibility.
Prone Brace
Lunge
Push Up
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