Under review by Eddie Norfolk: \u201cCoaching Youth Cricket\u201d by Ian Pont (Human Kinetics, 2010, approx $21 Canadian, plus taxes) This is one book in the \u2018Coaching Youth Sport\u2019 series.<\/p>\n
Ian Pont\u2019s book, \u201cCoaching Youth Cricket\u201d, should not be viewed as a run of the mill book on coaching. For one thing, it is aimed at coaches, or those who want or, indeed, serve as coaches, to youth cricketers. It contains a mixture of a proper English upbringing, with practical visions of reality and it makes demands of those who wish to coach youth. Demands young players would be able to read and understand as they mature in life\u2019s education, as well, hopefully, in cricket.
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\nIn the book\u2019s \u2018Foreword\u2019, Andy Flower, who reached the great stages of test cricket and ODI matches playing for Zimbabwe, and is now Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board, begins: \u2018If I was asked the most important thing for a youth coach to be if they want to be successful, I would say, \u201cto be encouraging. Because the truth is, if you do nothing else in your coaching career but encourage, you will have one of the best tools for bringing through any cricketer.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Flower points out, \u201cThis book is written in a thought-provoking way, which I urge you to read and enjoy. It\u2019s aimed at first-time coaches and those who want to get a grounding in how to teach the basics correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing ideas and being open-minded<\/p>\n
Some authority figures in the game, great though they may be, might not share enthusiastically in some of the content. But that\u2019s their problem; and one that cricket in the broader sense is saddled with. Pont\u2019s \u201cIntroduction\u201d, for example, boldly proposes that budding coaches \u201cBe open minded. Share ideas with other coaches. Remember that no one- not even cricket authorities!- has the exclusivity of being right all the time. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to remain flexible and to work with people to achieve your coaching goals.\u201d His early comments include the truism that \u201cwithout young cricketers, cricket will die.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an overall introduction to three coaching books, new to the shelves in 2010, I previously made reference to the start of Chapter 3. Namely, \u201cYou can\u2019t run a team or manage a junior side without knowing the rules and regulations of the sport you are coaching and the equipment your players will be using.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sage advice, oft neglected by leading gurus, particularly financial and political ones. Sometimes, sadly missed, by religious leaders and \u2018leading\u2019 academics in certain fields. By contrast, Ian Pont, began his first chapter with the proposition that to be a successful coach, \u201cyou need through self-examination and hard work five tools that cannot be bought: C Comprehension; O Outlook; A Affection: C Character; H Humour\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople learn from making mistakes.\u201d \u2013 Reality in the middle<\/p>\n
Ian Pont points out that \u201cPeople learn from making mistakes.\u201d Well, I would suggest some do so quickly, and make appropriate adjustments.<\/p>\n
Others? Well, they have outsourced their mistakes and try not to be responsible for that outsourcing decision. Some might be a bit slow to learn from mistakes, and one category never make mistakes, but they only turn to a single source for advice and counsel; themselves.<\/p>\n
Reality was of little consequence, for example, to one Bernard Madoff, a New York securities dealer back in 1986. In \u201cMarkets: who plays, who risks, who gains, who loses\u201d, by Martin Mayer (1988, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc< New York), Madoff is quoted as saying: \u201cMore mental masturbation goes on in this business than in any other. You\u2019ve got all those mind trades that go on- Did he buy it? Did he sell it? The really smart guys don\u2019t pay attention. They think about what they want to do.\u201d\n \nWell, out in the middle, there is nowhere for the batsman, or the bowler to hide. Although away from certain matches, it might be possible to provide a glorious tale of a mighty innings, or a haul of wickets which, some day, the listener might find was mere imagination.\n \nOddly enough, Mr. Madoff\u2019s confidence saw him move up the ladder, but if you read and understand some of Ian Pont\u2019s ideas. \u201cA sense of humour puts into perspective the many mistakes your players will make. So don\u2019t get upset over each miscue or respond negatively to erring players.\u201d\n \nCommunicating!\n \n\u201cCommunicating as a Coach\u201d (Chapter 2) \u201cmight be the most important in the book.\u201d If you cannot communicate reasonably well, you might not get as far as the need to understand the rules and regulations of the sport, or the league your team plays in. Well, you might still act as coach, but you might not even know the rules, etc. Some in Associates and Affiliates cricket might have empathy with the opening remarks under the heading \u201cFans and Supporters\u201d: \u201cThe boundary probably won\u2019t be overflowing with crowds at your contests which means you\u2019ll more easily hear the few supporters who criticise your coaching.\u201d And you keep calm.\n \nThere is some excellent advice about \u2018providing feedback\u2019. But some of the metaphorically blind and deaf, as well as some of the mighty powers of cricket, might take a while to understand such advice.\n \nPlanning plays a major part in becoming a successful coach. It must be admitted, if merely by me, that even the best of coaches might be \u2018challenged\u2019 if there are too many issues with the \u2018Facilities and Equipment Checklist\u2019. It includes checkpoints such as: \u201cThe outflied is free of low spots or ruts\u201d; \u201cThe outfield is free of protruding pipes, wires, and lines\u201d (one ground I visited a couple of years back had a spare \u2018square leg fielder\u2019, a water pipe with tap, or fawcet as they are known in Canada). At a recent international, I discussed knee injuries for wicketkeepers, for which Ian Pont\u2019s checkpoint \u201cThe field is not too dry or hard (protecting players who dive or fall) might apply.\n \nSome \u2018experts\u2019 may wish, therefore, to skip Chapter 4 on \u2018Providing for players safety\u2019, but at some stage if there are no players, old or young, there is no need for committee and board members, or executives in the world of cricket. I leave it to the imagination whether I mean a small world, such as a town, city, or county\/province\/state, or a much bigger part of the world in that context. But such ignorance might be overcome by reading, thinking and learning throughout life. \u201cWe are not perfect\u201d, as Pont points out. We all make mistakes, believe it or not. But some may need to develop the skill to see yourself as others see you, in order to realize one is not perfect. One can, and does, make some mistakes in life. \n \nA book could easily be written about the checkpoint \u201cScorers, scoreboard, and umpires are available and have all the equipment required to do the job\u201d, based on personal experiences at club and international levels over the last six years, or so.\n \n\u201cProper coaching begins\u201d \u2013 the technical basics\n \nHorror of horrors for some of the \u2018old school\u2019 is that \u2018proper coaching\u2019 of \u2018cricket skills\u2019 does not arrive until chapter seven. Worse still, it involves \u2018coaching fielding\u201d. This has a certain personal irony. I have no idea how many might have heard me on the FAN590 during Canada\u2019s loss to Ireland in the 2009 Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier, held in South Africa. I mentioned how the previous night, South Africa and Australia had posted tons of runs in an ODI, despite some wonderful fielding. That Sunday, some of the turf at the Centurion ground was springy.\n \nThe chapters on coaching fielding, bowling and batting are well supported by text, illustrative photos, diagrams and examples of exercises for indvidiuals and groups of players. These allow the coach to teach each skill as an \u201cIDEA\u201d. Where \u201cI = Introduce the skill; D demonstrate the skill; E Explain the skill; A = Attend to players practising the skill.\u201d This includes dealing with players on an appropriate basis, when situations demand and when you have considered the action to resolve challenging situations.\n \nCoaching requirements on match days, as well as in-season and out-of-season practice plans are also addressed. Some additional team drills that help develop fielding, bowling and batting skills are appended after a section outlining cricketing terms.\n \nA book that is well worth a read. The author is pictured wearing Dutch cricket colours, dating back to the preparations for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. Lest we forget, or even the late 2006 days in South Africa on safari with Bermuda, Canada, the Netherlands, some umpires, officials, a couple of journalists and the bus drivers. Lest we forget, indeed. The joys and experiences of learning on the cricket trail. But part of the greater trail; the journey of life.\n \nA life journey where I now find, certain corporate governance legislation \u201cstrikes at the heart of the traditional orthodoxy of the confidential relationship between lawyer and client\u201d. (Excerpt from Chapter 8 of \u201cIn the Public Interest\u201d, a report from a Task Force of the Law Society of Upper Canada, published in 2007)\n \nBut \u201cthe client\u201d might be a non-personal legal entity. A public corporation with related founding documents, probably drafted by certain lawyers, paid for the task, and which required various approvals. An entity beyond the individuals who might, from time-to-time, hold high office in such an enterprise. Surely, you would think, the lawyers understand the rules and regulations? \n \nOr perhaps they need to read some of Ian Pont\u2019s \u201cCoaching Youth Cricket\u201d, especially chapter\u2019s two and three! Interestingly, the \u2018Coaching Youth\u201d series includes a book on Tennis that is the official handbook of the US Tennis Association Junior Team Tennis body. I can imagine what a certain Mr. John McEnroe might think about the question \u201cWhat is Law?\u201d posed early in H.L.A. Hart\u2019s book \u201cThe Concept of Law\u201d (Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 1997 paperback edition). A book seemingly only found after the death of the author. Yet, \u201cprobably the most important book of legal philosophy produced this century\u201d, according to the back cover. First published in 1961.\n \nIan Pont seems to think that if the umpire\u2019s finger goes up, then, the young player must accept the decision, as should the coach. At least in the short-term, unless there are provisions for replays, etc under the rules and regulations of the particular competition. \n \n\u201cNo vast literature is dedicated to answering the questions \u2018What is chemistry?\u2019, or \u2018What is medicine?\u2019, but a veritable array of books deal with questions on the philosophy of law, or indeed, \u2018what is law?\u2019. Pont\u2019s book provides some reasonable ideas on how cricket is played, despite being focussed on the teaching of a coach. Perhaps some learned friends in the legal teaching profession could do with some advice and counsel from the likes of \u201cMr. Pont, initial I\u201d? Or am I being presumptuous? Or too simplistic compared with certain philosophers? By contrast, the cricket coach might consider a tactful discussion with the umpire might come after the game to confirm the specific reason for a batsman being given out. \n \nYouth cricket, the sport of young gentlemen and young women, potential icons for a more peaceful world? There will be the odd dispute or two where time can heal temporary wounds, and some unhappy folks at the end of a tightly fought game, but overall people can come together in cricket, and other sports, with the spirit and enjoyment of the sport as the key interest. Not some local or ultra-nationalistic \u2018death or glory\u2019 \u2013 losing is the end of the world attitude, especially if that attitude is driven by folks with almost no clue on how the game is played. \n \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Under review by Eddie Norfolk: \u201cCoaching Youth Cricket\u201d by Ian Pont (Human Kinetics, 2010, approx $21 Canadian, plus taxes) This is one book in the \u2018Coaching Youth Sport\u2019 series. Ian Pont\u2019s book, \u201cCoaching Youth Cricket\u201d, should not be viewed as a run of the mill book on coaching. For one thing, it is aimed at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920\/revisions\/921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}