Coaches Clipboard
The coach’s clipboard has been introduced as another form of providing coaching.
Edition No.3
Building and innings
From a batting point of view, the best way to enjoy your cricket is to be out in the middle making runs. However this doesn't happen easily.
It requires a number of different attributes to be a successful batsmen regardless what level of junior or senior cricket you are playing. I would consider the following as key components:
- Reasonable level of skill
- A good level of fitness
- An ability to concentrate and remain focused for an extended period
- Patience
- A batting plan (building an innings)
The last item is the one that I want to focus on this month.
On any given Saturday morning when batting, your team has anywhere between 300 & 320 balls to face from the opposition (45 overs plus wides and no balls for u/12's, 50 overs plus wides and no balls for 14's and 16's.). Naturally the top order batsmen get the opportunity to face the majority of these balls.
When you first go in, it is important to be "collecting information" about the bowlers, i.e. how much pace, bounce, swing or spin they have on the ball. This is why it is important that all batsmen besides the openers sit down and observe the bowlers that are on and make mental notes on what they are doing with the ball. This will enable you to settle in a lot easier when you first go into bat. At the same time observe where the gaps are, rather than where the fielders are.
Not every ball has to be scored off, but at the same time you must look busier by way of always looking for singles even if it is a defensive shot. Not all runs are scored off attacking shots, which you are trying to hit through the field all the time. Your defensive shots can also be run scoring opportunities as long as both batsmen are prepared, i.e. non-striker backing up.
Rotating the strike with quick singles is just as effective as trying to hit one boundary per over. It is also very frustrating for the opposition team, especially if you have a left hand and right hand batting combination. Whilst rotating the strike you are also builidng your own confidence and taking the pressure off both you and your batting partner. You will also find the field starts to spread a bit, which creates more gaps to score runs in.
As your innings progresses you will find that you will be scoring runs more regularly, which makes up for the balls that you have left earlier on in your innings when trying to "get a feel" for what the bowlers are doing.
Simple rules to abide by:
- Watch the ball out of the bowlers hand all the way onto your bat face.
- One ball at a time - JUST BAT
- Not every ball has to be scored off.
Should you want to discuss this in any more detail, please give me a call on 0401-900-926 
Edition No.2
Getting the best out of you and your team
To get the best possible result for your efforts on a Saturday, you need to make sure that you have prepared yourself correctly. This preparation commences the day after you have played.
With the grounds becoming harder, the weather becoming warmer and the amount of cricket being played increases i.e. club training & playing, school training & playing, & rep. team training & senior cricket, you need to make sure that you are doing all of the right things to help you manage this heavy and demanding workload.
The right attitude towards training will assist you in making all training nights effective in the development of your game. Always turn up to training with one development goal in mind.
With the weather warming up it is very important that you are drinking lots of water during your active day at school. The experts say that 1.5 – 2.0 litres of water per day are needed to keep you hydrated before exercise. After training you probably need to consume the same amount again to rehydrate your body.
The sorts of things that you need to include in your preparation are as follows:
Sunday – ensure that you do some sort of stretching for 15 minutes working through the major muscle groups (calf, hamstring, thigh, groin, back, side, shoulders, arms, neck. This should be followed by some recovery work, either walking at a good pace for 30 minutes, gentle jog for 20 minutes, or a 30 minute bike ride. This will help you get rid of the sore joints after a long day of cricket.
- Give some thought to what areas that you want to focus on at training for the week, based on what didn’t work for you on the weekend. It is always good to talk to your coach about what you are thinking about so he can be aware of what you want to focus on.
Monday – Try and get to training 15 minutes before the scheduled start time so you can go for a lap of the two ovals including some stretching exercises on the way around.
- For the under 14’s you are only training for 60 minutes and the expectations are that you train as you play on a Saturday. This night is more about skill development.
- For the under 16’s this is your main night of training so more focused on team orientated things.
The old saying of “You only get out what you put in” is very true. The better you train the stronger your performance on a weekend.
Tuesday – Some more stretching to be done (similar to Sunday) prior to heading off to school so you feel energized for your day at school. This will once again help in removing some stiffness from training the night before.
Wednesday – Once again prepare yourself to be at training 15 minutes before the scheduled start so you can do a proper warm up together as a team.
- Training together as a team is important so you can build a strong understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses and work together on the areas that need improving, as you may have the same problems.
Thursday – Stretching session in the morning and some more water to prepare yourself for another busy day at school.
Friday – Continue to drink lots of water during the day at school and once you get home.
- Clean your cricket runners to make sure that you look like a cricketer. Don’t rely on mum and dad to do this, it is “YOUR” responsibility. Make sure that you have all of your cricket clothes ready for the morning, rather than trying to find them on Saturday morning when you are either slow to get out of bed or are in a hurry.
- Get to bed reasonably early so your body and mind is fresh to concentrate for a 3 hour period. Once again drink at least 500 ml of water with breakfast. Having breakfast before a game is absolutely vital to providing you with the right energy levels for the day.
Saturday – Arrive at clubrooms before scheduled time so you are not rushed. Make sure that the whole team does a good warm up, and get out there and enjoy your game.
This appears to be a busy schedule, however it is important that we do make time available in our day to stretch properly as well as consuming enough water to give our body the best chance to perform at its highest level. Regardless of your age these guidelines apply to us all and will assist us in playing cricket for a longer period of time.
If you have any questions about this information, please give me a call on 0401-900-926 and I will be happy to assist.
Edition No.1
Batting:
The key to batting for a lengthy period of time is having the patience and concentration to leave balls early in your time at the crease. This provides you with the opportunity to understand the level of bounce and pace the bowler may be generating, which is important for later in the innings.
Remember your team has 50 overs to bat (45 for the under 12’s) which is 300 balls plus any no-balls or wides which you can probably rely on 10-15 extra opportunities (25 in the under 12’s) to score runs from. This means that we don’t have to go out there and blaze away from the start. We can be prepared to leave 10 balls early in your innings to give yourself every chance to be batting later on when they need batsmen who have been in for a while and are hitting the ball pretty well. If your team bats out your full allocation of overs there will be in excess of 300 deliveries to face which provides you with the chance to make scores of 175 – 200. I am sure that if you are still batting 15 overs later that you are scoring more freely than what you were at the beginning and doing your job for the team. I am sure that if you were bowling you would prefer to bowl to 2 new batsmen, rather than to a batsman who is scoring freely.
When we first go into bat I know that it is difficult not to focus on where the fielders are, but just as importantly we need to know where the gaps are. Take note of these and make sure that you batting partner is also aware of them so your calling and running can be maximized. Turning the strike over with singles is very effective for your team and is very annoying to the opposition side.
Having wickets in hand heading into the last 15 overs over your innings is a big advantage as it enables the batsmen a little more freedom to play their shots (positive cricket shots not aggressive slogging – there is a big difference). This situation can arise if we do all of the things above and look to build an innings throughout 50 overs. Bat on ball with the opportunity to score at least one run per ball with clever placement and timing of the ball rather than trying to smash the ball to the boundary every ball, is a higher percentage way of building a team score.
Bowling:
Bowlers who bowl in the first 15 overs are looking to build pressure on the batsmen whilst not giving them the opportunity to turn the strike over. This requires lots of discipline to not get tempted to try and bowl wicket taking balls with every delivery. It is a well known fact that most junior cricketers get themselves out through loss of patience and concentration, so if the bowler is disciplined enough to keep putting the ball in the right areas this pressure will create wickets. Bowling to hit the top of off-stump is the preferred length early in the innings.
The middle part of the innings (overs 16 to 35) is when the batsmen are trying to score a little more freely, so we are focused on bowling a tight line just short of a driving length and not providing them with any width. At the same time we also place our fielders strategically to protect the lofted shot as well as trying to limit the number of singles they take. Changes of pace and bowling wider of the crease are two things to consider to change up things and make the batsmen think about things.
Bowling in the last 15 overs is another game in itself, with the length of the delivery once again changing to be right up in the block hole, preventing the batsmen from being able to swing his arms through the line of the ball. If he is jamming the ball out of the block hole he is not elevating the ball, therefore easier to set a field.
Fielding:
A team of fielders that are alert, walking in with the bowler and wanting to be involved in every ball regardless of where they are fielding, is a team that will create wickets through their actions. We all know as batsmen the first thing you want to do when you go into bat is to get off strike by taking a single. If you have a team of fielders who are all moving in with the bowler and providing plenty of positive encouragement then you batsmen who are somewhat reluctant to take chances and hence slow the scoring rate down.
Captains must be aware of where your fielders are, as some players do have a tendency to walk in 5 steps, stop watch the action and forget to walk back 5 steps to be in the same starting position. Before you know it you have all the fielders 20 metres closer than where they should be. Staggering the field placements is important to provide the batsmen that perception that the gaps aren’t as big as they appear to be. Traditionally the straighter of the two cover positions (i.e. extra cover) will be the closer one but still in a walking in position rather than a stationary catching position. Ideally it would be good to set up your field that you have 2 slightly closer on the off-side which would be extra cover and point (assuming that you have a third man to be the support man behind point), whilst mid off and normal cover are at normal distance and third man is your boundary protector. On the leg side you will have fine leg as your boundary protector early on, square leg and mid on at normal distance and mid wicket in slightly closer but still walking in with the bowler.
As we move into the middle and later stages of the innings, the field starts to spread a little, which places more emphasis on the fielding side to be communicating to each other. Working together to execute relay throws from the boundary is important. There is no use having 2 players chase the ball out towards the fence to find that neither of them can throw flat and hard into the keeper or bowler. In that situation it is better to have one person approx. 25 metres from the keeper or bowler in a straight line between the thrower and the end that they will be throwing to. Two short sharp throws will make up time compared to one big high throw which seems to take for ever to get down from out of the sky.
If you have any questions about the information above please contact Mark Freeman on 0401-900-926.
