Carradale bloom under Flower

Carradale Cricket Club captain Aidan Keogh is put through his paces by Andy Flower at the NCPC in Loughborough

A coach full of excited cricketers travelled over 18 hours to spend the morning being coached by England Team Director Andy Flower at the National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough.

The team, all members of Carradale Cricket Club from Campbeltown, travelled down by coach from West Scotland after winning the once in a lifetime prize.

The competition, which featured in The Wisden Cricketer magazine, was courtesy of the Sky Sports ECB Coach Education Programme. Flower is the scheme’s ambassador, which, as part of the boom in grassroots cricket, has trained 23,000 coaches since late 2006.

Captain Aidan Keogh and his team received all-round coaching advice in a similar environment to mimic that of what the England team would endure in a training session. In addition to fielding drills, the team faced a number of bowling scenarios, including the infamous 'Merlin' spin bowling machine.

“It’s a tremendous effort these lads have shown to travel all this way to Loughborough," said Flower. "True dedication. We’ve had a lot of fun. They put in a great performance during our session and they really threw themselves into practices.”

Bob Abernethy, Carradale Cricket Club President, added: "It’s been a wonderful day with extensive coaching from Andy and his team. It’s great to see where the England team train and how it is done properly."

Flower poses for a photo with Carradale Cricket Club at the NCPC in Loughborough