ALL-THE-YEAR CRICKET COACHING

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 15

ALL-THE-YEAR CRICKET COACHING

With football posts going up on most of New Zealand’s cricket grounds, a lot of people have been asking me: “What are you going to do during the winter.”

The answer is coaching coaches—as many coaches in as many places as possible.

The bulk of my coaching during the winter will take place in school gymnasiums and other covered areas where I shall be testing schoolteachers and other interested coaches in the M.C.C. youth coaching course.

This course, designed by the M.C.C., consists ideally of four two-hour sessions with three examinations at the end —the subjects being a written test and practical work, with net practices and group coaching. The candidates must receive at least 70 per cent in each subject to gain the certificate

which qualifies them to teach youngsters in all phases of the game. As New Zealand contains just as many keen and gifted youngsters and as many inters ested coaches as any other country I have been in, I hope to have a busy winter. The first such coaching course I had at Hamilton last month was very good and ended with seven out of 11 passes—about the usual result in other courses I have conducted in England. During the day, I shall also be coaching and giving lectures at local schools and by the end of the year I hope to have visited every cricket community in New Zealand where there is sufficient interest to make such a course worthwhile.

I think there is a very big need for schools and teachers to take a bigger part in encouraging the game. Quite frankly, I have been appalled by some of the facilities provided in many of the schools I have visited.

If you go to the expense of laying down a concrete or similar artificial pitch, surely

it would be worth taking the trouble to make sure it is laid down on a suitable and flat surface. I should also like to see the concrete strips laid down longer in length. I have

noticed that a number of bowlers, especially the smaller boys, have great difficulty hitting the concrete at all. It is pointless to try to teach the batsmen to get behind the ball if one delivery shoots along the ground and the next goes over his head.

I have also been to schools where the only bats available were broken ones and the boys turned up for practice in bare feet Let me hasten to add that not all the schools were like this and in some of them the facilities were firstrate.

I am sure that everyone who watched the Rothmans under-23 tournament at Hamilton this year agreed that it was made all the more successful by the inclusion of more regular Plunket Shield players. This can only be for the good as it lifts the standard of the competition and also gives the younger players the chance to play with more experienced players and to learn from them.

I think it would be a good thing for New Zealand cricket if eventually it could form an under-25 side and so fall into line with other countries who are sending young sides on short tours to gain experience. Obviously, there are problems of finance but perhaps in the near future sponsors could be found for such tours. Getting back to coaching, it would also help New Zealand cricket if some indoor coaching schools could be built or converted In the main cricket centres. Some of the expense for these could be offset by using the indoor schools for other functions.

such as wedding receptions or dances. I should also like to see more gymnasiums being used in the evenings for net practice at schools. This could be done easily and cheaply by using a tennis ball with a centre net strung across the gymnasium.

Although such practice has its limitations for bowlers, it is excellent for batsmen. The bounce is true and fast and there is no problem teaching the boys to get in behind the ball.

Outdoor practice on tennis courts with tennis balls can also be most useful. We have many such nets in England and they are easy to install. So it looks as if I could have a busy winter ahead There is tremendous scope for talented young cricketers in New Zealand, with under--14, Brabin and Rothmans tournaments as well as firstclass play. There is a lot of talent and interest In New Zealand cricket and I will enjoy helping to develop it

By

M. J. Horton

Thia Is tha last of two articles written by the New Zealand cricket coach.