Please find below a link to the strength training program that Elite Cricket is using for the Sydney Tigers CC Academy 2008-9.

Elite Cricket: Sydney Tigers Strength Program

Places are still available for our Wicketkeeping Academy and Intensive Specialist Fast and Spin Bowling programs. These programs are the ideal way to prepare for the cricket season.

Simply click on the headings below to find out all the event and enrolment details.

Wicketkeeping Academy Enrolment

Exclusively directed by Mark Atkinson this intensive program is most suitable for aspiring wicketkeepers who have already had some experience in match play situations, covers all aspects of the art of wicketkeeping and leaves players feeling confident and ready for their best season behind the stumps.

Fast Bowling Enrolment

Spin Bowling Enrolment

Elite Cricket has once again assembled a top line team of NSW’s finest coaches for our programs, including NSW Blues paceman Mark Cameron (Fast bowling) and NSW Blues Coach David Freedman (Spin bowling).

Cheers

Mark

The cricket season is fast approaching and Elite Cricket has a great range of programs to assist players of all ages and abilities prepare for the best season of their careers by working closely with an expert coach.

Simply click on the headings below to find out all the event and enrolment details.

JULY SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM - EVENT AND ENROLMENT DETAILS

Kick start your pre-season program this July

WICKETKEEPING ACADEMY - EVENT AND ENROLMENT DETAILS 

Exclusively directed by Mark Atkinson this intensive program is most suitable for aspiring wicketkeepers who have already had some experience in match play situations, covers all aspects of the art of wicketkeeping and leaves players feeling confident and ready for their best season behind the stumps.

INTENSIVE SPECIALIST PROGRAMS - FAST AND SPIN BOWLING - EVENT AND ENROLMENT DETAILS

Elite Cricket has once again assembled a crack team of NSW’s finest coaches for our programs, including NSW Blues paceman Mark Cameron (Fast bowling) and NSW Blues Coach David Freedman (Spin bowling).

HIGH PERFORMANCE INDIVIDUAL COACHING - PROGRAM DETAILS

For players trying out for representative, school, Green Shield and grade selection why not give yourself the best chance with a program of individual sessions where Elite Cricket will design and deliver a program for you over a number of lessons.

Cheers

Mark

Action from our recent Lindfield program with special guest Ian Healy at Gully

Elite Cricket is excited to announce the venues and dates for our July 2008 School Holiday Program. This program will be a great way to kick start your pre-season campaign for 2008-9.

The program is suitable for ages 7 – 14 and will be conducted from 9am to 3pm in both 2 and 3 day formats across the range of venues listed below.

July School Holiday Program enrolment form

JULY 2008 SCHEDULE

• St. Ignatius College, Riverview 7th, 8th & 9th July 2008
• Scots College, Bellevue Hill 9th, 10th & 11th July 2008
• Lindfield Oval, Tryon Road 14th, 15th & 16th July 2008
• Drummoyne Oval 17th & 18th July 2008

THE ‘ON THE BALL’ BEGINNERS PROGRAM

‘On the Ball’ is for girls and boys from 5 -7 years, who have perhaps never played cricket or who have just begun their cricketing career. In these sessions our aim is to have some fun, some fitness and learn about the game of cricket. This will help prepare the players for junior cricket competition by assisting with ball skills as well as teaching some fundamental cricket techniques. They will also be able to play modified games in a safe and fun learning environment. ‘On the Ball’ will run as a 2-day program from 9am – 12pm at all of our School Holiday Program venues (see above) in July.

July ‘On The Ball’ Program enrolment form

Cheers

Mark

Wicketkeeping Academy Enrolment

A good wicketkeeper is critical to the success of any team. They need to be reliable, fit, skilful, tough and at times brilliant but this key position can often by occupied by the player who is, at times, a forgotten man at practice. A good keeper can turn a game their team’s way with an outstanding catch, stumping or run-out and in order for a wicketkeeper to excel they must put in quality time and effort to work on all aspects of their game.

This intensive program is most suitable for aspiring wicketkeepers who have already had some experience in match play situations, covers all aspects of the art of wicketkeeping and leaves players feeling confident and ready for their best season behind the stumps

Spin Bowling Enrolment

Designed for cricketers who are showing an interest in the more specialised area of spin bowling, this program is an ideal way to increase your skills and learn more about the great game of cricket.

Headed by Cricket NSW High Performance coach David Freedman and Sydney 1st grade spinner Matt Todd this intensive, structured program focuses on developing the correct technique to optimise performance and prevent injury featuring video analysis, a customised individual high performance strategy and comprehensive report.

Fast Bowling Enrolment

Designed for pace and swing bowlers, the program is an ideal way to increase your skills and learn more about the art of fast bowling.

Headed by NSW Blues paceman Mark Cameron and Elite Cricket Senior Coach Paddy Little this intensive, structured program focuses on developing the correct technique to optimise performance and prevent injury featuring video analysis, a customised individual high performance strategy and comprehensive report.

Despite the fact that most of our cricket grounds are sporting football posts, there’s still plenty of cricket to be had.

It is great to have Test cricket back on the agenda after a long break and despite the big hitting of Twenty20 cricket, Test cricket still can’t be beaten for entertainment for me due to it’s ebbs and flows and the genuine contest of skill and temperament between batsmen and bowler.

Australia’s earned a hard fought win against a resurgent West Indies to go one up in the series.  It was great to see a close contest played out over the full five days and from a coaching point I think it is worth taking a close look at two of Australia’s key performers in the Test.

Ricky Ponting bounced back to form after a forgettable series in Australia against India and in the IPL tournament, with a brilliant century.  Significantly his performance was built on a lot of hard work, prior to the tour, in the nets at the Brisbane based Centre of Excellence using a giant video screen to analyse and then fine tune his game for peak performance.

Stuart Clark’s Man of the Match performance was engineered with meticulous preparation and his relentless ability to execute the basic skills of his game under pressure. Champion players, such as Clark, have the ability to execute the basic skills consistently and well and there is no better role model for a fast bowler than Clark in terms of relentless excellence in delivering line and length and although perhaps not spectacular, the pressure brought about through his level of skills enables him to dismiss the world’s top batsmen time and time again.

Importantly in addition to his wonderful command of line and length, prior to the Test, Clark made a point of studying video tape of Glenn McGrath’s previous outstanding performances in tours to the West Indies which underscores the value of preparation and shows no matter how good you are you can always keep learning.

The IPL is reaching the final stages of competition and has well and truly put Twenty20 cricket on the map.  How Twenty20 will change cricket is yet to be seen, but it is clearly an exciting form of the game and is certainly here to stay! For those players who’d like to have some fun playing this exciting form of the game, Elite Cricket will be holding a Twenty20 tournament in January 2009 – details and entry forms will be posted on the website in the coming months.

Elite Cricket has our annual pre-season Specialist Fast and Spin Bowling and Wicketkeeping Academy programs running in July, August and September. I will be running the Wicketkeeping Academy and I’m very pleased to let you know former NSW spinner and current NSW coach David Freedman will be one of our spin coaches and Mark Cameron NSW Blues speedster will be coaching in our Fast Bowling program.  The event and enrolment details for these programs will be posted on the website shortly.

The cricket season will roll around quickly and keen cricketers should soon be thinking about and planning their preparation for the season ahead. With this in mind I have posted a new series of articles on the website to help you think a little more about your cricket and would suggest you take some time to read them leading up to the season.

Cheers

Mark

Sydney Tigers Academy Squad 2008-9

Sydney Tiger Academy players hard at work

On Sunday May 18th, 36 young players swapped their football boots for cricket spikes and began training for the cricket season.

The boys were part of the inaugural Sydney Cricket Club’s Tiger Academy. The Sydney Cricket Club is a newly formed venture between the former UTS - Balmain Tigers and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.

Aged between 12 and 15, the players have been identified by their various local clubs as talented cricketers and over the winter will focus on forming correct techniques, developing tactical awareness, injury prevention and general preparation for competition.

The Academy, run by Mark Atkinson’s Elite Cricket Coaching for the Sydney Cricket Club, is designed to provide a complete pathway for the development, coaching and mentoring of talented young cricketers who will eventually see the Sydney Cricket Club as their home as they mature into Grade cricketers.

Daryl Chappelow, General Manager of the Sydney Cricket Club said to the players and parents yesterday, “The Club is committed to maintaining its position in the forefront of the Sydney Grade cricket scene and to do this we will be offering a training and coaching regime which will provide first class coaching at all levels – this Junior Tiger Academy is one example of our commitment”

It’s also offers a great opportunity for the boys to train and play with cricketers of similar talent and be exposed to coaches who offer expertise in areas of batting, pace and spin bowling and wicket keeping.

Further details

Daryl Chappelow
Sydney Cricket Club
dchappelow@scgt.nsw.gov.au
www.sydneycricketclub.com.au

The most difficult part of an innings is arguably the first forty minutes, if you have got this far (40 minutes) you have probably become used to the conditions and the bowlers to a degree and progress from this stage is more about continuing to apply the skills that have got you to where you are. That is after the first 40 minutes you are more likely to get yourself out by a mistake than by having the bowlers knock you over!

In contrast the first 40 minutes of an innings is more about dealing with uncertainty in terms of factors such as the bowlers, the pitch, your nerves and the game situation. It is fair to say that this is a fairly anxious, stressful and difficult time that requires a lot of skill to survive and thrive. The positive in this situation is that it presents a great challenge that will give you a lot of satisfaction and if you can be successful it will also set you up to make a big score. Below I have detailed a few thoughts for your consideration on starting your innings.

Keep it simple, have a simple plan, my plan is defend on the stumps, leave the width until I want to hit it (when I’m ready). When I execute this plan I remove caught behind, lbw and bowled (the most likely ways any batsman can get out), which pressures the bowler to try other deliveries that create run scoring opportunities for me.

Bowlers will have their tails up when they have just taken a wicket and you have just come in, keep your expectation low at the start of an inning, play straight, leave width and relax is my thought process at this stage. There will be plenty of time for stroke play later when the bowlers are more tired and you are better set.

Play straight, this means to me if the ball is on the line of the stumps hit it back down the pitch where it came from, it is difficult to get out playing straight.

Get balanced, the most difficult time to pick the ball up is when you first come in, give yourself your best chance by being as stable/balanced as possible at all times.

Relax and enjoy the challenge, deep breathing helps me to get calm and even though its stressful I find enjoyment in the challenge, nothing worthwhile (including making runs) comes easy, you will have to work and fight for every run and also if you enjoy something you will do it well.   

Good luck

Mark

I heard an expression that made me think recently, it was ‘95% of people turn up’.  I think that the application of this expression to cricket is that in most cases 100% of people turn up to a game, but how many of the 24 people at the game turn up to do what it takes to win or to play the best game of their lives or to take responsibility for their team winning the match.
 
I believe that great performances don’t just happen, they are a result of making the effort to plan carefully and having the courage to make a disciplined effort to execute the plan with precision.  People don’t play for Australia or achieve any great success by accident it is the result planning and effort.
 
I think the easy thing to do is just turn up to a match and go with the flow of the game taking the attitude that if your team and team-mates have a good day you can cruise along with them. It’s easy not to think!  (95% of people turn up!)
 
The tough but rewarding thing to do is to make the effort to take the responsibility for being the very best you can be.  This path does not guarantee you success, however it does give you the chance to be the best you can be and if you never aim to do something, how can you achieve it other than by luck and let’s face it you could be waiting around a long time for a lucky break!
 
To be the best you can be means you need the courage to take the risk to commit fully to carrying out your game plan and accepting the consequences no matter the result.  You need the courage to test yourself and see how good you can be and this means taking the risk to fail.  However, failure is not a bad thing in fact I see it as an opportunity and if you can be honest with yourself every performance is an opportunity to learn weather you succeed of fail.  For example if you failed under a certain set of conditions or against a certain bowler what did other people do that worked in these circumstances that you can learn from or how can you do it better next time. 
 
When you turn up to your next game, will you be prepared to be the best you can be? Are you prepared to play the best game of your life or better your personal best performances?  If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then have you got the plan, discipline and courage to make the effort that it requires?
 
Good luck
 
Mark