Coaching Youth Cricket - Ian Pont

Coaching Youth Cricket

by Ian Pont

NEW, 208 pages

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About Coaching Youth Cricket

Cricket is truly a global game—more than 100 cricket-playing countries are recognized by the International Cricket Council. That is more than double the number of participating countries of 15 years ago. Written by renowned cricket expert Ian Pont, Coaching Youth Cricket takes this popular global game and enables coaches at all levels to develop young cricketers and help them foster a lifelong passion for the game.

Coaching Youth Cricket features explanations, photos, and illustrations depicting the various drills and skills of cricket, including fielding, bowling, and batting. Also included are chapters devoted to helping coaches communicate with players, understanding rules and equipment, keeping practices fun and motivating, ensuring safety, and teaching cricket skills.

The long-standing Coaching Youth Sport series has helped hundreds of thousands of coaches lead their teams to success. This new entry in the series is an ideal resource for cricket coaches at all levels.

About Ian Pont

Ian Pont has been appointed Bowling Coach to the Bangladesh National Team. He played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Essex from 1981 to 1988. Pont has been the specialist bowling coach for many professional cricket teams, including Kent, Northamptonshire, Essex, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. He has also been a coach involved at the international level with England (2003) and Netherlands (2005-2007). He holds a level 3 UKCC head coach qualification and is currently an ECB national skills set coach and Northamptonshire bowling coach. Ian is also head coach of the International Cricket Camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa, which takes place each December and features world-class coaches such as Gary Kirsten, Graeme Pollock and Jimmy Cook. This camp is now regarded as the very best of its kind for developing technical and mental skills for fast bowling and batting.

Reviews of the Book

“Ian Pont fizzes with enthusiasm and missionary zeal when he talks about coaching. He is a perpetual stream of ideas; he wants to impart what he knows. Pont’s first book on fast bowling was riveting because it put into plain English what can be a complicated subject. This book might have even wider appeal because he advises the coaches how to coach. Technically sound, it goes much further into the realms of what young people need in order to learn the game and Pont never forgets that, above all, cricket should be fun.”

Stephen Brenkley, The Independent

"There are plenty of books for coaches at the elite level, coaches of adults and coaches of juniors. This book helps all coaches, and it is hard to imagine any who will not benefit from consulting it. It also deals with that often-overlooked element in young players’ development: parents. They are more than just unpaid taxi drivers, and it is refreshing to see their vital role acknowledged."

Ralph Dellor,former Chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board Coaches Association,Broadcaster and Author of Cricket: Steps to Success

“A coach has to perform the role of motivator, counsellor and communicator. This book helps all coaches at all levels to do this effectively so players have the best possible chance to realise their potential.”

Roger Newman, Director of Cricket, Devon CCC

“Ian Pont’s infectious enthusiasm for his subject comes bursting through the pages.”

“Here’s a book that actually covers the subject of coaching in language we can understand: a breath of fresh air for anyone keen to start coaching at any level.”

Dick Davies, BBC Essex

"The lessons of a life in cricket from a man who's worked with the very best—and made them even better."

Duncan Steer, Editor, SPIN Monthly Cricket magazine

About Cricket

A cricket match is played between two teams (or sides) of eleven players each on a field of variable size and shape. The ground is grassy and is prepared by groundsmen whose jobs include fertilising, mowing, rolling and levelling the surface. Field diameters of 137–150 metres (150–160 yd) are usual. The perimeter of the field is known as the boundary and this is sometimes painted and sometimes marked by a rope that encircles the outer edge of the field. The Laws of Cricket do not specify the size or shape of the field but it is often oval – one of cricket's most famous venues is called The Oval.

The objective of each team is to score more runs than the other team and to completely dismiss the other team. In one form of cricket, winning the game is achieved by scoring the most runs, even if the opposition has not been completely dismissed. In another form, it is necessary to score the most runs and dismiss the opposition in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn.

Before play commences, the two team captains toss a coin to decide which team shall bat or bowl first. The captain who wins the toss makes his decision on the basis of tactical considerations which may include the current and expected field and weather conditions.

The key action takes place in a specially prepared area of the field (generally in the centre) that is called the pitch. At either end of the pitch, 22 yards (20 m) apart, are placed the wickets. These serve as a target for the bowling (aka fielding) side and are defended by the batting side which seeks to accumulate runs. A run is scored when the batsman has run the length of the pitch after hitting the ball with his bat, although as explained below there are many ways of scoring runs. If the batsmen are not attempting to score any more runs, the ball is dead and is returned to the bowler to be bowled again.

The bowling side seeks to dismiss the batsmen by various means until the batting side is all out, whereupon the side that was bowling takes its turn to bat and the side that was batting must take the field.

In professional matches, there are 15 people on the field while a match is in play. Two of these are the umpires who regulate all on-field activity. Two are the batsmen, one of whom is the striker as he is facing the bowling; the other is called the non-striker. The roles of the batsmen are interchangeable as runs are scored and overs are completed. The fielding side has all 11 players on the field together. One of them is the bowler, another is the wicketkeeper and the other nine are called fielders. The wicketkeeper (or keeper) is nearly always a specialist but any of the fielders can be called upon to bowl.

Coaching Youth Cricket