Academy Report 2013

Kent County Cricket Club

Academy Report2013

Review of the Previous Year 2012/13

With some re-structuring and a number of changes to the Academy programme last year, we were looking to build on the solid foundations that were in place.

This winter’s programme was very similar in structure to the previous year, with the Academy scholars receiving individual skills sessions on either a Tuesday or Friday evening, specific fitness sessions on a Thursday evening and group sessions very early on a Sunday morning. However, given all the hard work that had gone in over the previous twelve months we were able to start from a much higher level and therefore challenge the Academy scholars to be better than ever before.

Once again we were very lucky to have access to the expertise and experience of a number of past and present players at various stages over the winter programme. Working alongside Jimmy Adams, Phil Relf, Jason Weaver and myself, the likes of Adam Ball, Alex Blake, Mark Ealham, Robert Key, Geraint Jones, Min Patel, Martin Saggers, Darren Scott, Chris Tavare and James Tredwell all very kindly gave up their time for the next generation, adding amazing value to the sessions that were delivered.

As part of our Leadership development programme, we invited an outside organisation called “Heroes in Leadership” to come and enhance the decision making performance of our Academy scholars. The former Armed forces officers provided intriguing classroom and practical based exercises that were thought provoking, challenging and fun for all involved. The message that was delivered consistently over their time with us was that good leadership ultimately is what drives success and includes such things as communication, empathy, assertiveness, clear thinking and teamwork.

Thankfully the weather was a little kinder to us in the summer, which enabled us to play five of the eight fixtures arranged against senior opposition. Once again, we looked to play the longer format of all day time cricket as much as possible. We were very grateful to those clubs that agreed to play us this season for accommodating this request. We do see it as a necessity in the development of our young players, given they already get a lot of exposure at school, club and county level to the various one day formats of 20, 40 and 50 over cricket.

The highlight of this year’s fixture list was the match played against the MCC at the Kent Cricket Training Ground. This fixture was arranged to recognise the development of the new training ground in partnership with Canterbury Cricket Club and Polo Farm Sports Club. This is a wonderful new training facility that includes a main cricket ground, an eighteen grass wicket net area and two artificial wicket nets. The financial investment in a facility like this should not be under estimated and the Club’s management should be congratulated on what has been achieved at Polo Farm so far, as I have no doubt Kent Cricket will reap the rewards of this facility for many years to come.

Eight Academy scholars between the ages of 15 and 18 were given opportunities to play second eleven cricket this summer. These were Zak Crawley (15), Ryan Davies (16), Jack Laraman (17), Henry Pickering (18), Shaun Piesley (18), Piers Richardson (16), Michael Waller (16) and Sam Weller (18).

Henry Pickering was selected for the England Development Programme U18 team that participated in the County 2^nd XI T20 competition this summer. Henry put in some good performances in this competition, but unfortunately missed out on final selection for the England U19 squad this year.

Ryan Davies, Jack Laraman, and Piers Richardson were all selected for the London & East of England U17 squad that attended the Regional “Super 4’s” tournament at Loughborough. Throughout the week, all three individuals contributed with significant performances for the team, and as a result both Ryan Davies who was leading run scorer and Jack Laraman who was leading wicket taker were selected to play for the England Development Programme U17 team.

Zak Crawley was also selected for the London & East of England U15 squad that attended the Regional Bunbury festival in Durham.

Ryan Davies was the recipient of the John Aitken Gray Trophy this year, which is our annual award for 'Best Academy Scholar'. Ryan had an outstanding season scoring runs and wicket keeping consistently at all levels, making a number of match winning contributions. Myrna Gray presented the trophy in memory of her late husband John Aitken Gray, and it was a delight to see her at Canterbury once again. We are extremely grateful to Myrna for her continued support of the Academy over the last ten years.

We were very proud to see Academy scholars past and present making their debuts at first class and international level this summer. Fabian Cowdrey’s outstanding run scoring at second team level in all formats of the game in the first half of the season was rewarded, making his well-deserved debuts for the Kent County Cricket Club first team in both T20 and List 'A' matches. Natasha Farrant had a fantastic start to the season with the ball at county level, which resulted in her getting selected for the England Women’s T20 team against Australia. Her consistent performances in this format of the game then enabled her to get selected for the England Women’s List 'A' team in the more recent tour of the West Indies. Tamsin Beaumont completed the list of debutants playing in the Test match against Australia this summer as part of England Women’s successful Ashes campaign.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to show my appreciation of the hard work and commitment that is put in throughout the year by all our coaches and support staff. Having the right people involved in the Academy and Performance Squads programmes is our biggest asset. The success of these programmes is all down to the positive learning environment these talented people have created.

National Selection

The following past or present Academy scholars were selected in National squads/teams during 2012/13.

Male:

England Lions Team – Matthew Coles

England Development Programme U18 Team – Henry Pickering

England Development Programme U17 Team – Ryan Davies, Jack Laraman

Female:

England Senior Team – Tamsin Beaumont, Lydia Greenway, Natasha Farrant

England National Academy Team – Tamsin Beaumont, Alice Davidson-Richards, Grace Gibbs

England Development Programme U19 Team – Natasha Farrant, Grace Gibbs

Regional Selection

The following past or present Academy scholars were selected in Regional squads/teams during 2012/13.

Male:

London & East of England U17 Team – Hugh Bernard, Ryan Davies, Jack Laraman,

Piers Richardson

London & East of England U15 Team – Nathan Baxter, Zak Crawley, Marcus O’Riordan

Female:

England Development Programme U19 Competition – Alice Davidson-Richards, Natasha Farrant

County Selection

The following past or present Academy scholars were selected in Kent Senior squads/teams during 2012/13.

Male:

First Class – Adam Ball, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sam Billings, Matthew Coles, Sam Northeast, Adam Riley

List “A”- Sam Billings, Alex Blake, Matthew Coles, Fabian Cowdrey, Sam Northeast, Adam Riley

Twenty20 – Adam Ball, Alex Blake, Sam Billings, Matthew Coles, Fabian Cowdrey,

Sam Northeast, Adam Riley

Female:

List “A” – Tamsin Beaumont, Deanna Cooper, Alice Davidson-Richards, Grace Gibbs,

Natasha Farrant, Lydia Greenway, Joanna Watts

Twenty20 – Tamsin Beaumont, Deanna Cooper, Alice Davidson-Richards, Grace Gibbs,

Natasha Farrant, Lydia Greenway

Best Academy Scholar

Ryan Davies

Performance Squads Awards

The following past or present Academy scholars were selected in our Kent Performance Squads during the 2013 season that were successful in ECB county age competitions.

Yorkshire Bank U17 ECB County Cup winners and U17 ECB County Championship runners up – Hugh Bernard, Zak Crawley, Ryan Davies, Jack Laraman, Juniad Nadir, Piers Richardson,

Robert Sehmi, Ranjit Singh, Michael Waller

Yorkshire Bank U15 ECB County Cup runners up – Nathan Baxter, Zak Crawley,

Marcus O’Riordan

The following 2012/13 Academy scholars won the associated Performance Squad awards during the 2013 season for ECB county age competitions.

Male:

U17 Leading Run Scorer – Ryan Davies