Finland?s Shaw joins MCC Spirit of Cricket Camp
I arrived in England on Saturday, August the 20th, and stayed till the 28th taking part in the MCC Spirit of Cricket coaching camp for 8 to 12 year olds, and having the opportunity to play some cricket myself. I was invited to work as a cricket coach on an MCC cricket camp organised by the Lewisham Sports Academy. The invitation came about on the back of a meeting between the FCA and the LSA where they are investigating the possibility of developing cricket links and sharing development strategies and ideas with each other. The LSA is run by Glynn Abbott and Ross Walker. It delivers cricket and other sports courses to primary schools in the London borough of Lewisham; grassroots delivery of cricket, much like our situation here in Finland. My visit was the first example of the FCA and the LSA co-operating.
On Sunday I travelled to Old Dartfordians CC to play a Sunday League game for Bromley Common Cricket Club (BCCC). Playing on grass was definitely a learning experience, having played and learnt most of my cricket on gravel pitches and artificial wickets; I found playing on grass much easier and a more dynamic game, the larger ground made the game more active and boundaries harder to come by. BCCC won the game comfortably and it was an incredible experience and taste of cricket on proper pitches in a developed cricketing environment. I kept wicket during the game and found the carry to be better and more consistent, making keeping somewhat easier, however on grass wickets the ball swung more and tended to swing after it had gone past the batsmen meaning that more concentration was required to follow the ball all the way into the gloves. Batting was more difficult too and your technique is far more tested on a wicket where the ball moved off the seam, so I found more application and resolve was required than batting on Finnish wickets. However I enjoyed the challenge and hopefully acquitted myself well managing to bat through the innings finishing 38 not out.
On Monday I travelled with Julian Roach, a level 1 coach and former player/coach of the Finnish national team, to the LSA (Lewisham Sports Academy) offices to meet Ross Walker and Glynn Abbott who run the academy. We did an inventory of equipment and planning for the forthcoming MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) Spirit of Cricket camp which was taking place over the next 3 days.
Tuesday morning we arrived early at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham, South London to prepare for the forthcoming 3 days. The children were aged 8 to 12, and the camp mainly revolved around getting kids involved with cricket and developing them at a grassroots level. I was paired with another coach, James Clarke (a former Kent academy player), and we had a group of 24 children, who were further divided into a sub-group of 12; this was my group. We played a number of cricket based games which the kids all seemed to thoroughly enjoy and were very positive through out the day. We finished the games with the group playing two small kwik-cricket games, my group winning both games. All of the teams were named after the main cricketing nations?J Ireland and Finland were also represented! Hyvaa Suomi! One kid thought Finland was near Germany?but the others knew about the World Championships. They wondered if it rained everyday in Finland. By the way, the facilities were fantastic. Would I have loved to have played on that wicket!
On Wednesday it rained through out the day, much to the disappointment to the coaching staff, but the children all had wet weather gear and seemed just as happy to play in the wet as they were in the dry. Despite being soaked by the end of the day, looking back on it, it was amazing to see these kids keen to play cricket despite the cold and wet. After the children had left a number of the coaches marched onto a damp Kent county square to play some windball cricket. While death ball would be more adequate as the game was set up with a batsmen with a junior sized bat, the bowler running from about 10-15 yards away and bowling (or as some would suggest chucking) the ball at you with the speed of light while a keeper, 6 slips, two gullies and a backward point awaited catches. James Clarke seemed to do much of the chucking despite his assertions that he was ?bowling' it, and after much deliberation people came to the conclusion that due to the wet surface and ball it was reaching the batsmen at around a speed of 85mph. While some people were wearing seam marks on their foreheads and eyebrows by the end of the game it was great fun and a great test of batting and catching reflexes. The Kent square was wonderful to play on; diving around and playing on it was simply fantastic.
On Thursday we held a tournament between the groups, which was great fun. The children seemed to love every second, some brilliant cricket was played and overall the kids' cricket had improved drastically over the 3 days. The MCC at the end of the camp offered the children one year's paid membership at their respective cricket clubs to encourage them to persist with playing cricket, a great incentive to get further involved with the game. Channel Four broadcasting sent a TV crew down to film the event and interview Ross Walker who commented on Finland providing a coach and the Finnish participation in the ECC tournament. In the end Australia won the tournament with Ireland (my team) finishing a comfortable second with Finland third. India won the under 11's competition.
On Friday I travelled with another LSA coach to an area called Bellingham near Lewisham where we played cricket with a group of children at an activity centre. This was the meaning of grassroots inner-city cricket development. While this was an extremely different environment to the MCC camp, with children from a different social background, it was a great learning experience and a great place to apply what I'd learnt over the previous 3 days at the MCC camp. Despite the differences, ultimately, the one thing which stood out was the children's enjoyment and enthusiasm for the game and playing it.
On Saturday I travelled with Bromley Common Cricket Club to watch their 1st XI at a beautiful ground in Hartley, with absolutely fantastic facilities on the ground including a full restaurant and bar area as well as great changing rooms and showers. This was division 2 Kent league cricket and the teams were 3rd and 4th in the league. The standard of cricket was incredible and made me realise the commitment and dedication I'd require to play at a similar level compared to where I am now, I found it an extremely motivating and eye opening experience, and learnt a large amount watching a standard of cricket far higher than that which is played in Finland. BCCC won the game and we travelled back to the BCCC club to socialise and discuss the game afterwards, on Sunday I travelled back to Finland having enjoyed every last second of my trip and learned too much to write down in one sitting.
I'd like to thank first and foremost Julian Roach, Ross Walker and Glynn Abbott for making my trip possible, without them and their cooperation my trip would never have taken place. I would also like to thank Maija Scamans and Andrew Armitage for the undoubted little "word in the ear" behind the scenes. James Clarke was extremely supportive and helpful during my coaching work. My time spent with the LSA coaches and staff was terrific, I learnt a lot about cricket from both a playing and coaching point of view, but also about man-management and how to improve my coaching techniques. The coaches were all vibrant, energetic and very welcoming to me, and I felt I had made some genuine friends despite only spending a short period of time in England, and this I think reflects on the fantastic people who work for the LSA and worked at the MCC camp.