Eleven
members of Carradale Cricket
Club enjoyed the trip of a
lifetime recently when they
visited Loughborough
University courtesy of the
burgeoning Sky Sports ECB
Coach Education Programme.
Having
travelled from Carradale on the Wednesday as guests of Sky
Sports the local lads stayed overnight before rising on the
Thursday morning to attend a coaching session with Andy
Flower, the England Coast and David Parsons the Academy
Director. There they enjoyed their billing as centre stage
with Sky TV’s cameras rolling which continued into the
afternoon with a match against the University side – a far
cry from what must be one of the remotest Cricket Clubs in
mainland Britain!
Club Captain Aidan Keogh said “We learned
that we had won back in January and it was fantastic news
for us, and we couldn’t wait to climb on the bus and head
down to Loughborough,”
“We have school pupils in our ranks, and
our age range stretches from 13 to 60, but we are passionate
about our cricket and this will give Carradale a big boost
as we try to build up our profile.”
Andy Flower said “We tried to
give them a taste of what the England lads do and they put
in a terrific performance during the whole session. We
started with a warm-up, then we got them doing fielding
practice and had them diving all over the place. I had a bit
of trepidation about that, because one or two of the guys
were on the old side and it is one thing to worry about
somebody tearing a hamstring, and another thing entirely to
be apprehensive about them suffering a heart attack.
"But they were right up for it,” said Flower, who is an
ambassador for the Sky-backed initiative. “Then we worked on
their batting skills and they spent 10 minutes in the nets,
while I split them up into groups and showed them how to
defend, how to hit over the top, and they were really
attentive, they soaked up loads of information.
"We used a bowling machine to test them out with some
short-pitched stuff, then we put them up against the
'Merlin' spin bowling machine, which can replicate what a
Muralitharan or Warne might do. Finally, we looked at their
actions and used technology to record their bowling speeds
and the amount of turn their spinners were getting. There
was a great rapport between us and I hope they benefit from
what I have told them.”
“When I was playing in the Central Lancashire League, I did
a little cricket tour to Scotland and I saw for myself just
how many people were dedicated to the sport. So I am not
surprised that the Carradale lads made the effort to travel
all the way down to Loughborough and responded with such
enthusiasm to the visit. It will be nice to come back up
this summer and I’m sure that it will be another competitive
match.”
Keogh added “It was absolutely brilliant and Andy treated
every single one of us as if we were professional
cricketers, which obviously we aren’t.
"The experience of being involved with him and then taking
on a Loughborough team in a 20/20 tussle, while Sky were
filming us, was something that we will never forget,” said
Keogh, whose club launch their 2010 campaign on May 9
against the Arran-based side, Sannox.
For more information on Carradale Cricket Club and their
season ahead please visit their website at
www.carradalecricketclub.com
