Unless Cummins can get ten more runs, there will have been no fifties by an Australian in a Test match for the second time in four matches, and the third time in two years. This on a pitch that still hasn't got any major demons in it on day four.
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Theory: our tail-enders have regularly done better than our top order for a number of years, because when they seek to improve their techniques they go back to the basics, and their mentality is of survival.
Absolutely agree.Incidentally, with his 61 and counting, Cummins is providing evidence in favour of this hypothesis.
I've just finished Gideon Haigh's book and I think I know where he's coming from now. The standard pathway is seen as old hat, and it's all about finding bright shiny stars rather than good solid cricketers.
Miserable failure is pretty much the way of rugby union in this country for the past 15 years or so. Maybe Pat knew more than we thought.Ed Cowan was fantastic on the ABC the last few days.
He pretty much echoed western royboy's sentiment of needing better coaching in the lower grades. That was his first suggestion.
Also blamed Pat Howard for a lot of s**t. Said Pat Howard would tell him how he should bat and how he tried to shape cricket in this country like Rugby Union but he failed miserably.
How a guy like that had so much influence over cricket in this country is ******* scary.
It was a great listen.
Good stuff. I'm sure your son will thank you in 20 years when he is smashing centuries in the test teamPlease see the problem with Junior Cricket below
Play in the V for the first ten overs (play straight)
Play along the carpet (don't hit the ball in the air)
Build your picket fence to get your innings going (work your singles at the beginning of an innings)
I've not heard 1 junior coach talk of these things. I've drilled these into my son and as a result he has only been out twice this season, They have to retire after 30 balls and he has retired on scores of 12, 10, 8, 35, 27, 4, 18. He was constantly being told to play more shots, hit it harder etc etc. He is definitely not the most talented cricketer, but he has been drilled on the mental application of batting. Play every ball on it's merits, this means if you get 6 good balls, then you block 6 good balls etc etc.
Needless to say there are better hitters in the team, but no kid with any technique really apart from my boy. As a result, he has picked up the best batsmen award for his team in season 1 this year. My point is this, there are a lot more talented kids than my son in his team, but because nobody is teaching them technique or the art of batting, they will be lost to the game, or just get picked on the occasional big 6.
There won't be a test team in 20 years the way things are going.Good stuff. I'm sure your son will thank you in 20 years when he is smashing centuries in the test team
Please see the problem with Junior Cricket below
Play in the V for the first ten overs (play straight)
Play along the carpet (don't hit the ball in the air)
Build your picket fence to get your innings going (work your singles at the beginning of an innings)
I've not heard 1 junior coach talk of these things. I've drilled these into my son and as a result he has only been out twice this season, They have to retire after 30 balls and he has retired on scores of 12, 10, 8, 35, 27, 4, 18. He was constantly being told to play more shots, hit it harder etc etc. He is definitely not the most talented cricketer, but he has been drilled on the mental application of batting. Play every ball on it's merits, this means if you get 6 good balls, then you block 6 good balls etc etc.
Needless to say there are better hitters in the team, but no kid with any technique really apart from my boy. As a result, he has picked up the best batsmen award for his team in season 1 this year. My point is this, there are a lot more talented kids than my son in his team, but because nobody is teaching them technique or the art of batting, they will be lost to the game, or just get picked on the occasional big 6.
Amazed that no-one seems to be willing to point the finger at the multimillionaires currently occupying our top six, and their complete unwillingness to apply themselves and change or modify the clear defects in their technique, despite each of them having access to the best coaching and analysis in their states and the country.
Instead it's seven-to-ten-year-olds and volunteer coaches to blame.
It’s true and correct , the really sad part is a lot of people saw this a long time ago in junior and lower grade development and nothing was done then and still hasn’t been .Ed Cowan was fantastic on the ABC the last few days.
He pretty much echoed western royboy's sentiment of needing better coaching in the lower grades. That was his first suggestion.
Also blamed Pat Howard for a lot of s**t. Said Pat Howard would tell him how he should bat and how he tried to shape cricket in this country like Rugby Union but he failed miserably.
How a guy like that had so much influence over cricket in this country is ******* scary.
It was a great listen.
Amazed that no-one seems to be willing to point the finger at the multimillionaires currently occupying our top six, and their complete unwillingness to apply themselves and change or modify the clear defects in their technique, despite each of them having access to the best coaching and analysis in their states and the country.
Instead it's seven-to-ten-year-olds and volunteer coaches to blame.
Ever thought of, perhaps, putting your hand up and actually contributing something to the team yourself if the coaches are getting it so wrong?
Just be that dad. And if anyone complains, ask them how many hours they spend volunteering to help other peoples kids.I coach the boys footy, don't want to be that dad.
Great post!The art of rotating strike to get your innings going is interesting to me. Its an often used line 'get yourself going with singles, pick the gaps, run hard' but it is a skill that a lot of batsmen seem to striggle with. Head for example yesterday got pinned down immediately before his dismissal and then got out to a poor shot. Its something we see often.
In club cricket it is my observation that players generally score a 50 at a run or ball or go at a 35 strike rate. There are few who consistently motor at say a 65 strike rate taking few risks. Neither is the optimum for making big scores unless you jave to requisite concentration and fitness for a 250 ball stay, rather than a 150 ball one. Its my observation that first grade players who have had a taste of the next level are streets ahead in this area.
So i guess the question im trying to ask from the ramblings above is: 'what are the requsite skills to the critical skill of strike rotation that are not being sufficently taught at a a young age'. Is it 'wanger'/ bowling machine syndrome? More importantly how is it rectified?
Given the thesis of this thread is that junior development is where the defects have to be detected and changed, it wouldn't make much sense to copy every other thread which is blagging on the current team.
I realise that, but in the three plus years since royboy posted the thread, I'm yet to see it backed up with any conclusive proof that doesn't fall squarely into "back in my day" territory.
I keep coming back to the comp in my former hometown, which was run my traditionalists who hated the Milo model, wanted kids facing 1000 throwdowns in the nets before doing anything else at training and insisting on full size pitches. Great for their egos and nostalgia and all, but the majority of kids hated it, fewer and fewer families were turning up to register at the beginning of each season and they'd had to progressively eliminate the 9's, 10's and 12's competitions because clubs couldn't actually field sides (with the 13s looking increasingly unstable). When we asked families who were pulling out what the problems were, the answers were almost uniform "Johnny isn't enjoying it any more" "Coach X only focuses on the best bowlers and batsmen in the side" "All his friends are playing basketball now" "He feels stupid because he can't land one on the full length of the pitch."
After much handwringing, screeching and wailing, the Association eventually asked the WACA and Department of Sport and Recreation for help and consented to rolling out the Milo/T20 blast model for the younger age groups around 4-5 seasons ago. And what do you know? Numbers are up, clubs can now field junior sides in each age group and there's even two girls teams with healthy numbers playing against the boys. The bigger pool of players means the clubs are now identifying more and more talented kids who are playing up with the adults in second-grade and getting more intensive coaching that way.
Sure, the focus at the youngest end is more on kids having a go and less on super-rigorous coaching, but I'll take that over no competition at all, which was the looming alternative.
Well that doesn't appear to be the model any of us are arguing for either, so...
The whole thread is full of people - you included - complaining about the emphasis on participation, without any reflection that without numbers, you haven't got any means to find your next generation to train.
Milo doesn't need to change much other than give the kids some basics on grip, backlift and stance - if they do that they will have it for life.
However, it goes much deeper than that too. There cannot possibly be such a universal lack of technique and the ability to apply oneself as we are seeing in Australia now, for there not to be a systemic issue that goes back to the core of junior coaching. These are not issues that are currently being seen universally across the world either.
To use New Zealand as an example, right now we would kill for someone even as good as Henry Nicholls, or Tom Latham, or hell, BJ Watling, to be in our national setup. Never mind Williamson or Taylor, that's the level we are currently looking at longingly.