Our objective at Cambridgeshire Cricket is to create an environment that will help our players develop and reach their full potential. We want to produce players who are resilient, strong, skilful, have a wealth of knowledge but, most of all, enjoy the game. Ultimately, we hope to grow a strong pool of players to progress along our pathway and on to Regional Programmes and Professional Cricket.

We have four County Age Group (CAG) squads. Our Under 11 and Under 13 CAG squads are focused on participation and development and on building a strong foundation for the performance stage of our pathway. These CAG squads play intra-squad and localised inter county fixtures in a variety of formats including T20, 15 over, Hundred and 30/35 overs. There is a strong emphasis on developing a ‘love of the game’ and providing an opportunity for every individual involved during these phases.

Our performance stage consists of our Under 15 and Under 18 CAG squads. These squads play National ECB Competition fixtures and friendly fixtures against bordering counties. These fixtures include a variety of T20, Hundred and One Day formats. We want to encourage participation within the game; however, we are also building a squad to win games in Competition.

The talent pathway aims to provide a structure of specific age-related coaching as well as opportunities for specialist sessions. Pre-Christmas we run a skill specific programme covering technical areas in all aspects of cricket. In January, our 10-week CAG winter training programme begins during which squads will train together, working towards the summer. During the summer months, squads will have access to further outdoor training to complement their extensive summer fixture schedule.

Selection for all CAG squads will be based around player development. As players progress along the pathway, the emphasis moves towards team performance in a competition environment.

The Talent Development Framework is set out in the document below.

To find out more about fixtures and results for these CAG squads please go to the Cambridgeshire Cricket Board Play Cricket site:

https://cambridgecb.play-cricket.com/

The Cambridgeshire Girls’ Emerging Players’ Programme (EPP) aims to provide talented players with additional support as they progress towards either Senior or Regional representation. The players are selected from our Under 13 – Under 18 CAG squads through various selection processes. Once selected, the players take part in a winter and summer training programme. During the programme, the players take part in individual skills and scenario sessions, fielding sessions and strength and conditioning. Our Girls’ EPP coaching staff consists of:

• Lee Smith (EPP Lead)
• Alex Stafford (ECB Level 3 coach and Former Cambridgeshire Pathway Player)
• Katherine Speed (Current Sunrisers and Essex CCC Player)
• Lizzie Hitchcock – EPP Physio

The programme is based at The Leys School and at the University of Cambridge Sports Centre in their impressive Strength & Conditioning suite.

Our Girls’ EPP is not just about the playing ability of our squad. The programme also looks at the all-round support we can give to our players over the course of the year. They have access to nutrition advice, physio support, goal setting advice and workload management.

We hope the holistic support we give our players on the EPP will provide them with the right knowledge and experiences to progress into Regional or Senior Cricket.

To date, we have had ten players progress to Sunrisers Regional Programmes, whether it be onto their EPP or Academy Programmes.

For more details on the EPP, please contact Lee Smith at lee.smith@cambscricket.org.uk