Scotland and Ireland train up

Tim Boon will be one of the coaches taking part in the ICC's training camp © Getty Images

Players from Scotland and Ireland are warming up for the World Cup at the second annual ICC Winter Training Camp which gets under way in South Africa next week.

A selection of 24 players from the top six Associate countries are coming together for intensive coaching, training and tactical analysis of one-day cricket with some of the best coaches around.

On October 2 the chosen players from Scotland, Ireland, Bermuda, Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands will assemble at the high performance centre in Pretoria for a seven-week camp that will aim to boost their form and skills ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies next March.

Dewald Nel, one of the Scotland particpants is keen to improve on the basics associated with the game, whilst also making sure his fitness levels stay at their peak.

"I was on the camp last year and so I know what to expect in terms of facilities. The hpc is a fantastic place - top teams from all sports from around the world go there to improve their skills and fitness.

"I think it will be very beneficial to work on specific cricket skills and game scenarios with coaches who, as players, performed at the highest level.

“Part of this, too, is that I want to keep match fit and match aware. The tendency at this time of year is to relax too much and although you might keep fit, you lose a certain sharpness that you only get from playing and pushing yourself on a regular basis."

Last year, the camp concentrated on fitness and technical improvements but, according to the ICC's high performance manager Richard Done, the emphasis of this year's camp will be slightly different.

"The success of last year's camp has been really encouraging. Several of the players who attended the WTC in 2005 have gone from strength to strength within their own countries."

"This year though, with the World Cup so close, it is especially important to focus on one-day skills," he added. "So as well as fitness and technical sessions, we will program a lot of match scenarios to recreate specific situations that players will face during one-day games," he said.

"They will also work with quality coaches and some great former players during seven weeks of uninterrupted cricket in what is the off-season for all but one of these six Associate Members."

Rod Marsh is going to be imparting some of his knowledge © Getty Images

The coaching staff at the camp will be led by current Leicestershire and former England Under-19 coach Tim Boon and will be co-ordinated by Mark Lane with specialist input from former international players Gary Kirsten, Kepler Wessels, Eric Simons, Rod Marsh and others.

Will Porterfield, Ireland’s opening batsman, is excited by the chance to work with the coaching luminaries.

"This is a great opportunity for me to improve my all-round game. I can't wait. I'm looking forward to working with the coaches they have lined up and the programme looks really interesting.

"I feel I finished the summer quite strongly so I want to maintain that momentum heading towards the World League and World Cup next year.

“It is also important to spend some time in the hotter climate and learn to adjust to that,” he added.

In the final two weeks of the camp, there is a challenging match schedule that takes in two games against Gauteng at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, four games against Northerns at the hpc, and two matches, including a day-night fixture, against North West Province at Potchefstroom.

"These matches will provide a perfect opportunity for these players to put into practice the lessons they've learnt over the previous five weeks," said Done.

During the course of the seven-week camp the players will also undergo comprehensive physiological testing, strength and fitness training, biomechanical testing, psychological/life skills sessions, nutrition advice, and video analysis.

Indications are that the vast majority of the players attending the camp will be selected in the squads to represent their countries at next year's ICC Cricket World Cup.

"It's going to be exciting because we have so many players attending the WTC who are near certainties of going to the World Cup. Practising in first-class conditions and then performing against first-class players will be a real positive as they prepare for the West Indies," said Done.

ICC Winter Training Camp participants

Scotland: Omer Hussain, Ross Lyons, Johan Dewald Nel, John Blain
Ireland: Kevin O'Brien, Kenny Carroll, William Porterfield, John Mooney
Bermuda: Kwame Tucker, Irving Romaine, Kevin Hurdle, Stefan Kelly
Canada: Sunil Dhaniram, Kevin Talvinder Sandher, Abdool Mudassar Samad, Ashish Bagai
Kenya: Amollo Morris Ouma, Tanmay Mishra, Hiren Varaiya, Nehemiah Odhiambo
Netherlands: Daan LS van Bunge, Mark Jonkman, Alexei Kervezee, Muhammad Kashif