8


| COACHING ESSENTIALS |


five, a bowling all-rounder at seven and wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter at six. They also played three spinners. Test match regulars Nathan Lyon and Ed Cowan were in the Aussie side.


I


No England cricket team would do anything other than their utmost to beat the Aussies, and vice versa. As it turned out, Chris Woakes (92) and Samit Patel (55) top scored in England’s first innings and Simon Kerrigan, the third spinner, took six wickets when Australia replied.


But these teams weren’t selected with the result of their two match series in mind. They weren’t even the second best XIs that either country could put together. There was no Steven Davies, Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar or Graham Onions. No, these horses


n August last year, England ‘A’ lined up against Australia ‘A’ with an all-rounder at number


were picked for a very different course, that course being the next five years of international cricket – starting with Ashes 2013.


Talent identification is no longer about picking a group of skilled players, training them up as a squad and hoping they go on to make it into the big time. Dealing with so many unpredictable human intangibles, the concept is such an imprecise science that top level sports coaches and scouts look for other ways to find the next generation of sporting superstars.


To do that, according to former sports coach UK talent development lead Stuart Armstrong, they have to play the long game.


‘Cherry picking talent works only for a small percentage,’ he says. ‘We need a system that looks at all eventualities within the sporting landscape, where well educated


and informed coaches develop talent rather than just identify it.’


For Armstrong, effective talent identification is a continuous process.


He explains that a programme such as Sporting Giants (which received a lot of coverage during The London 2012 Olympic Games) might produce an Olympic gold medallist in rower Helen Glover, but most of those on that programme didn’t reach the top. Even the annual NFL draft, where teams scour American colleges for the next Tom Brady, is only 19.9% effective. Over 80% of draftees don’t make it.


Yes, you’ll always get the occasional Sam Tomkins or Serena Williams; a youngster obviously set for superstardom. But Armstrong says that it is impossible to predict what will happen to most young sports players.


BEYOND THE OBVIOUS


LOOKING


What can Rugby League learn from other sports when it comes to identifying talent?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16