Full steam ahead for ECC European Academy in Spain

After the success of last year's ECC European Cricket Academy (ECA) at the ECB National Cricket Centre at Loughborough University, the ECC are pleased to announce that this year's Academy will be held at the La Manga Club in Spain from the 17 - 23 April 2006.

15 players between the ages of 16 - 21 from the ICC European Member Countries have been selected for the Spanish leg of the Academy and this will be reduced down to a squad of 13 for the match program.

These players will be put through their paces by coaches and specialists, but ultimately the success will come from the participant's efforts, focus and individual goal-setting.

The ECA forms part of a fully established High Performance pathway for European youth cricketers, which starts at the U13 youth tournament and progresses onto the U23 Championship.

At senior level this pathway leads onto Europe's ICC Regional tournaments, as part of the World Cup Qualifying Series, and then to global events such as the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the ICC Trophy and the ultimate goal of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Steven de Bruin from the Netherlands, one of this year's Academy players, also took part in it in 2005 and was full of praise for the concept.

"The three weeks were a fantastic experience I will never forget a moment of it," he said.

"I learned so much, made new friends and played cricket against the best opposition I have ever played against."

Along with the program in April, the ECC have also arranged for the Academy team to play three one-day fixtures against England U17s and a two-day game against Warwickshire CCC U19s.

The England fixtures will take place at Loughborough University in England and will be held on the 24, 25 and 27 June. The match against Warwickshire will be played on 28 and 29 June.

European Academy Squad
Arun Ayyavooraju - France
Mark Bacarese - Gibraltar
Scott Dagleish - Scotland
Steven de Bruin - Netherlands
Eoghan Delany - Ireland
James Hall - Ireland
Richard Keaveney - Ireland
Graham Davey - Netherlands
Olivier Lodder - Netherlands
Scott Maclennan - Scotland
Calum Macleod - Scotland
Fintan McAllister - Ireland
Gavin McKenna - Ireland
Jamie Nussbaumer - Guernsey
Kelum Perera - Italy
Zishan Shah - Denmark

European Academy Management
Philip Hudson - Manager
Richard Cox - Director
Richard Holdsworth - ICC European Development Manager
Kevin Innes - Fast Bowling
Chris Ellison - Spin Bowling
Gordon Lord - Batting
Keith Piper - Wicket-Keeping
Richard O'Sullivan - Physiology/Spin
Joce Brooks - Psychology

The ICC European Development Program (EDP) Centre of Excellence will also be held at the La Manga Club in Spain from the 11 - 14 April 2006.

The youth camp has grown considerably over the last few years and is now seen as a very important development initiative for improving both playing and coaching standards.

Member countries from throughout the European region nominated a maximum of two players and one active coach, to accompany the players and take part in a specially planned coach's program. The ECC has put together a highly experienced team of ECB Level III staff coaches all of whom have worked closely with junior development in their respected European countries. The level of coaching in Europe is improving rapidly due to the EDP coach education program in association with ECB.

The separate program for the 15 coaches will be run with the aim of improving their coaching standards and giving them the additional knowledge they require to improve their coaching qualifications in the future.

"The philosophy of these two events is to identify and select the most talented young cricketers in Europe at this age group, and develop them through excellent coaching and support services in order for them to achieve their potential. We aim to produce national team cricketers at age group level rather than cricketers who just play for their country," said ICC Regional Development Officer Philip Hudson.

ECC Centre of Excellence:
Lucas Dobner - Austria
Jamie Farmiloe - Belgium
Shalin Shah - Belgium
Ali Imtiaz Ahmed - Denmark
Sonny Nielson - Denmark
Jonathon Houghton - France
Madhu Bhandari - Finland
Tanzeel Tariq - Germany
Haris Bhatti - Germany
Jonathon Clarke - Guernsey
James Mullen - Guernsey
Michael Patelis - Hellas
Dennis Coster - Netherlands
Vinoo Tewarie - Netherlands
Robin Russell - Ireland
Andrew McBrine - Ireland
Steven Slack - Isle of Man
Edoardo Mazzi - Italy
Dylan Sarnellie - Italy
Oliver Hairs - Scotland
Craig Ramsey - Scotland
Christian Mills - Spain
Peter Crook - Switzerland

Country Coach Leaders
Andrew Jordan - Austria
Marc Vandereviere - Belgium
Umair Butt - Denmark
Tim Williams - France
Stephen Viola - Finland
Dan Kremer - Germany
Jonathon Orme - Guernsey
Kassimas Nikitas - Hellas
Philip Russell - Ireland
Phil Richardson - Isle of Man
Neil Brook - Spain
Michael George - Switzerland

ECC Personnel
Philip Hudson - ICC Regional Development Officer - Europe
Richard O'Sullivan - ECC Centre of Excellence Director
Kelum Perrera - ECC Coach (CDO - Italy)
Fazil Mahmoud - ECC Coach (Coach - The Netherlands)
Simon Smith - ECC Coach (South East Development Officer - Cricket Scotland)

The La Manga Club, the venue for the ECC European Cricket Academy and the Centre of Excellence, is one of the world's finest all-round sports and leisure resorts.

Located in Murcia on Spain's south-eastern coast, it is visited by a large number of professional and international sporting teams and the cricket facilities over the last couple of years have been greatly improved.

That improvement has involved the addition of two artificial pitches and a four-bay artificial net area to go along with the other wonderful sports facilities already based there.

"La Manga Club is delighted with its developing relationship with the ECC and hope that the Resort will be an important part of the council's plans for the future," said Tony Coles, Managing Director, La Manga Club.

"Seeing cricket being played in Spain is very comforting for the many British people that both live here and visit. For the locals it is something new but something that they will grow interested in as the seasons go by. We look forward to welcoming the Academy and Centre of Excellence this April."