Associate Coaches link up for pre-ICC Cricket World Cup summit

The coaches from the six Associate countries to have qualified for next year's ICC Cricket World Cup will get together this week as part of the ICC High Performance Program (HPP*) to review their programs ahead of the Caribbean tournament.

Gus Logie (Bermuda), Andy Pick (Canada), Adrian Birrell (Ireland), Roger Harper (Kenya), Peter Cantrell (the Netherlands) and Peter Drinnen (Scotland) will assemble in Glasgow for a two-day seminar on Wednesday and Thursday, 21 & 22 June.

Led by ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done, the group will look at a host of topics including teamwork, sports science and other support services, fitness, skill development, match tactics, specialist coaching and match analysis.

They will also benefit from Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore's attendance over both days, drawing on his experiences of building a high performance environment both in his current role and with 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup winners Sri Lanka.

Explaining the purpose of the gathering, Richard Done said: "Although each of the countries and coaches have their own individual priorities, together they share a common goal which is the improvement of Associate cricket.

"Gathering everyone together now allows us to review where we are as an HPP group and focus on the essentials for each country to work on ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

"Our belief is that by bringing the experience of these coaches together they can learn from each other's approaches and ensure they are well prepared for what lies ahead over the next nine months."

The meeting comes ahead of an intense period of cricket for the ICC Cricket World Cup Associate qualifiers. After ODIs for Scotland (against Pakistan), the Netherlands (against Sri Lanka) and Kenya (against Bangladesh) over the next month, every one of the six countries will play ODIs against each other in August.

Looking further ahead, a Winter Training Camp for the leading Associate players has been penciled in for October and November before the World Cricket League Division One takes places in Kenya in the run-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup in March 2007.

* The High Performance Program (HPP) has existed since 2002 and is driven by ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done. Its purpose is to develop the quality of national programs and global competitions to close the gap between Associate and Full Members in playing standards.

The HPP works with the leading Associate countries in prioritising their strategies for high performance programs, player development pathways and administrative structures to improve on-field performance of the national teams, at both senior and U/19 levels.

In 2006/2007 the main thrust is to help prepare the top six Associate Members (HPP countries) - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland - for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007.

The ICC has committed US$500,000 of funding to each of these six HPP countries through to 2009 to help them put in place the best possible national team coaching structures to ensure that the teams have access to a high standard of training and competitive opportunities.