Unsung heroes of the 18 first-class counties gathered at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough this week, as momentum gathers over new plans to support the County Talent Pathway.
The counties and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) united in their support of Cricket Unleashed on the crucial importance of developing homegrown players for county and international cricket, using the network of 18 first-class counties, and 21 non-first class counties.
That led in spring 2017 to the appointment of Alun Powell, who had previously worked in both codes of rugby, as the ECB’s new National Talent Manager for men’s cricket.
And now, one year on, Powell assembled the Academy Directors from the first-class counties to outline details of the Talent Map, the ECB’s strategy to support the County Talent Pathway.
“It was a really significant and uplifting day for those of us at the ECB involved with the County Talent Pathway, and I hope the guys who made the effort to attend from the counties at such a busy time of year would agree,” said Powell.
“They have such important roles, back at their counties and therefore for us at the ECB. The great thing for me was to see their enthusiasm to enhance the system, and their desire to play a key part in the changes we’re making.
“I think there’s major value in them all getting together. We had formal sessions sharing best practice and talking about a wide variety of relevant areas, from player recruitment, programming of support for talented players, age-group competitions, and partnerships with key stakeholders such as non-first class counties and Higher Education.
“But it’s just as valuable for the 18 guys to have that time to talk informally. There’s a hell of a lot of experience and knowledge in the room – guys who will be familiar names from their own playing careers in county cricket, former teachers and coaches, and many of whom have a number of years in academy environments.
“The Academy Directors are doing great work, and we want to improve the support we provide to them.
“Through our Regional Talent Managers, we will have a much greater presence in the academies and will support the delivery of coach development, parent education, and the Academy Director with their planning and delivery of pathway programmes.
“We’re working towards 2025 as the stated goal to have established a game-wide, connected and world-renowned talent pathway.
“This 2018-20 period is all about establishing the foundations, as a key part of the new County Partnership Agreement – and taking in various key strands of Cricket Unleashed such as our South Asian Strategy to increase the reach of our counties.”
The day also included a presentation by Ben Jones from the Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance at Bangor University in North Wales, outlining the findings of a project he has been working on with the ECB’s spin-bowling lead Peter Such investigating the characteristics of county and England spin bowlers.
Full list of 18 county representatives
Derbyshire – Chris Guest, Academy Coach
Durham – John Windows, Academy Director
Essex – Tom Huggins, Talent Pathway Manager
Glamorgan – Richard Almond, Head of Talent Development
Gloucestershire – Tim Hancock, Head of Talent Pathway
Hampshire – Charlie Freeston, Head of Player Development
Kent – Jason Weaver, High Performance Director
Lancashire – Gary Yates, Academy Director
Leicestershire – Andy Siddall, Performance Development Coach
Middlesex – Alan Coleman, Head of Youth Cricket
Northamptonshire – Kevin Innes, Performance Coach
Nottinghamshire – Matt Wood, Cricket Development Manager
Somerset – Steve Snell, Academy Director
Surrey – Matthew Spriegel, Performance Manager
Sussex – Keith Greenfield, Director of Cricket (before Richard Halsall takes over as Academy Director)
Warwickshire - Paul Greetham, Elite Cricket Development Manager
Worcestershire – Elliot Wilson, Academy Coach
Yorkshire – Richard Damms, Academy Coach