Two things: skill and temperament. The two are so integral that for one to grow into a successful cricketer, they need both. Having one of either is just not good enough, and this is why most junior coaches go for strategic intensity when training both.

Players from different age groups require different levels of mental and technical coaching. For instance, Michael Smith from Grey High says that despite coaching youngsters the same aspects of the game the intensity is staggered by age group.

So, while Under-14s can have the same content as their older counterparts, it is imparted at a very fundamental level. This is because the most important thing at that stage is building understanding versus mastery.

Mastery can only be born out of understanding, and understanding can only come from developing a firm grasp on the fundamentals. Therefore the first step is about making sure that they have the basics in place before anything else.

“Everything we do with the seniors we do with our juniors, but on a basic level. That includes helping them to develop match-awareness and improved decision-making. But we do this on a very basic level,” Michael Smith from Grey High revealed.

“We can’t inundate the guys with too much information because we might end up with players with scrambled brain syndrome.”

This is a snippet from issue 10 of Cricket Fanatics Magazine Monthly

Subscribe below to read the full article.