Sixteen young England fast bowlers from across the men’s and women’s development programmes will travel to the High Performance Institute of Sport in Potchefstroom in the next month to take part in intensive skill based and strength and conditioning training camps.
For the men, six Potential England Performance Programme (PEPP) bowlers – Somerset duo Lewis Gregory and Jamie Overton, Matthew Hobden (Sussex), Craig Miles (Gloucestershire), Middlesex’s Harry Podmore and Olly Stone (Northamptonshire) – will arrive in South Africa on Monday February 2 and spend 18 days training under the guidance of PEPP Head Coach, Neil Killeen.
The PEPP players – who have an average age of 21 – have been selected for the programme by England Performance Programme (EPP) Lead Fast Bowling Coach, Kevin Shine. The 2014-2015 programme started in October, with the six players primarily training as a group at the National Cricket Performance Centre (NCPC) in Loughborough throughout the winter. Each of the current PEPP bowlers will be hoping to emulate the likes of Steven Finn, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan, who are all graduates of the programme.
Speaking about the PEPP fast bowling training camp in Potchefstroom, Kevin Shine said: “The 18 days that the PEPP guys will spend in South Africa next month represents the culmination of a long winter of hard training indoors and in the gym at the NCPC in Loughborough. Led by Neil Killeen, the programme is designed to develop the players physically, mentally and technically, so they can improve as cricketers and realise their full potential. The facilities in Potchefstroom are superb, and the camp will give them the opportunity to put all their cricketing skills into practice in an outdoor environment as well as continuing their conditioning work.”
Ahead of the PEPP fast bowlers arriving in Potchefstroom in February, a mixture of high potential seam bowlers from the England Women’s Academy (EWA) and England Women’s Development Programme Under-19s (EWDP U19) will take part in the first ever England women’s performance pathway fast bowling camp from January 26 – February 5. EWDP U19 Head Coach, Salliann Briggs, will lead the ten day training camp, supported by Glamorgan’s David Harrison.
ECB’s Head of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor said: “Since the professionalisation of the England women’s team last year, significant developments have been introduced across the England women’s performance pathway. We have to enhance the development of the players in the programmes beneath the England squad, and the fast bowling camp to Potchefstroom represents the latest step in this plan. The trip will provide a wonderful opportunity for this young group of EWA and EWDP U19 bowlers to access the same world class facilities as the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who trained with the EPP in Potchefstroom before Christmas.”