Europe is 'coaching the coaches' as ICC Cricket World Cup approaches

As the top Associate players gear up for a chance to show the world that there is quality cricket beyond the Test-playing nations, coaches from all across Europe are being given the opportunity to develop their own skills and inspire the next generation to reach for the stars.

ICC Europe is running a coaching and development conference as part of the European Development Program and it will be held at the MCC Indoor School at Lord's Cricket Ground, London this week.

In all, there will be 27 participant coaches from 14 Associate and Affiliate member countries, who will witness a host of presentations and demonstrations from highly experienced coaches and cricketing experts. The occasion also provides an excellent opportunity for coaches to meet and discuss common practices, share fresh ideas and learn new skills.

The event has been put together by ICC Regional Development Officer Philip Hudson and this is the third time the event has been organised.

"The conference will provide all the attendees with an excellent opportunity to further develop the coaching skills they have already obtained," said Mr Hudson.

"One of the main roles of the conference is to provide the coaches with fresh ideas that they can take back to their countries. We look forward to seeing the standard of European tournaments continuing to rise thanks to the effort of these coaches, many of whom are volunteers," he added.

The event could not come at a better time for Europe's top three Associate members (Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands) who are all competing in the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies just one week later. The seven coaches attending the course from these countries will be hoping they can put their new skills to good use in a bid to develop the next breed of cricketers for global success.

The remaining 20 coaches come from a further 11 European countries including Cyprus, Finland, Guernsey and Spain. These coaches are all actively coaching junior national squads and will be working with their respective teams during ICC European tournaments in 2007.

The three-day schedule is made up of 16 different activity sessions and will offer a mixture of seminars, theory and practical sessions covering different areas of the game.

Sessions on batting and bowling are being held by John Abrahams (ECB National Academy assistant coach), Steven Seligmann (ECB Regional Performance Manager), Stuart Barnes (Gloucestershire CCC academy director) and Owen Dawkins (Gloucestershire CCC batting/spin coach).

Sports Psychologist Joce Brookes will lead sessions on mental skills and lifestyle management - areas which are becoming more and more important in today's high-pressure sporting environment.

This year also sees the introduction of two relatively new concepts to the conference.

Dr Sherylle Calder, one of the world's leading authorities in visual skills coaching, who has worked with world-class athletes and teams including the England rugby union team, will be leading a visual skills workshop.

Another first for the conference is the introduction of a unique training system called Foot Sport Dynamics. Nino Severino, creator of the system, said: "The aim of the session is to create a totally new way of looking at cricket movement and to understand that cricket's specific skills can be delivered through efficient movement. It is important that coaches can look beyond the skills and examine pure athletic movement and how it can be achieved."

The conference continues to be an integral part of the ICC European Development Program. The number of qualified coaches in Europe (not including England and Wales) has increased by 78 per cent since 2002, with an 18 per cent increase being seen over the past 12 months alone.