Arkwright
Arkwright
I was Chairman of Caterham CC in Surrey and coached at Ropley CC, Hampshire when I lived in the county. Certainly the talent is there but outside Public Schools the children rely on local clubs for coaching and guidance, most of which is on a purely volunteer basis.
Caterham was ECB accredited and paid by the ECB to provide coaches for junior members and in local junior and comprehensive schools, however the County told the club how funds were to be spent and which coaches were to be allocated within the schools. If I'm honest I felt it was jobs for the boys as some of the coaches were only in it for the money, £30 a session isn't to shabby.
The biggest problem is getting the juniors to play senior cricket, most go to university or have jobs which include weekend hours. We use to work on a rough ratio of one player from each age group would come through to play seniors. That's a lot of man hours and investment for very little reward, however one junior every year equates to a new team every eleven years and hopefully safeguards the future of the club.
Caterham was ECB accredited and paid by the ECB to provide coaches for junior members and in local junior and comprehensive schools, however the County told the club how funds were to be spent and which coaches were to be allocated within the schools. If I'm honest I felt it was jobs for the boys as some of the coaches were only in it for the money, £30 a session isn't to shabby.
The biggest problem is getting the juniors to play senior cricket, most go to university or have jobs which include weekend hours. We use to work on a rough ratio of one player from each age group would come through to play seniors. That's a lot of man hours and investment for very little reward, however one junior every year equates to a new team every eleven years and hopefully safeguards the future of the club.