THE CORE OF CRICKET A

BY JEREMY SNAPE

fter 19 pre-seasons as a professional cricketer, my wife has started to call me Spiderman, this is not because of my supernatural talents but just because I cant get out of the bath on my own! As a youngster at Northants CCC,

I was very competitive and wanted to beat all the senior players around the local park. This 30 minute run was seen in the late eighties as a tough challenge but thankfully we would have a big lunch at the pub straight after to ease the pain. I have to say that these times were great fun and it was quite an apprenticeship served in a dressing room with such legends as Allan Lamb. Times have gradually changed however and with the advent of full time strength and conditioning coaches, cricket has caught up with the more physically demanding sports. We are now treated like athletes who play cricket and this has brought a cultural change for the better. With the rise in technology and athleticism there has been a revolution in cricket and the Ashes success of 2004 plus the explosion of the Twenty20 competition has taken cricket to a new level. From a personal point of view,

I know that I have felt at my most resilient mentally when I have been at my best physically. This may be a combination of the major physical fitness parameters and the more daily conditioning for match performance.

BENEFITS OF MASSAGE Having been involved with the England cricket team, I have seen a huge benefit in feeling more prepared by having regular rub-downs with professional masseurs and sports therapists like Bob Bramah and Mark Saxby. Not only is this beneficial for feeling ‘prepared’ for an international fixture but it also acts as a preventative aid in the chaotic mix of long-haul flights and different hotel beds in the high pressure environment. The demanding schedule placed upon the modern cricketer sees us playing for at least 5 days per week during the summer, with an extra day spent travelling up and down the

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For many years the standards of physical training and game preparation in professional cricket, especially during the pre-season, were well below those of other major sports. That has now changed, as England international and former county captain, Jeremy Snape explains.

motorways in our own cars. Personally, I think that it is unrealistic to expect any athlete to be at their best with such a heavy workload, but cricketers have learnt to pace themselves for the demands of the season and their training plays a vital role in this maintenance.

WINTER WORKLOAD Generally following a busy season, players will have between 2 and 4 weeks completely off from training before taking up their winter employment. For many players this involves a winter season in a southern hemisphere country or an international tour. For those of us not involved in cricket we are given a winter programme by the strength and conditioning coach. In terms of training, the demands placed on a fast bowler will be very different from a wicket keeper or batsman, so individualised programmes are a must for elite performers. For me, at the age of 34, I would class myself as a self-starter and manage to complete most of the pre-Christmas programme in my own time. In the New Year, I build in the competitive element of training with a few of the boys which allows the banter and competition to fuel my work-rate

THE AUTHOR

Jeremy Snape is the former Captain of Leicestershire County Cricket Club with whom he has won two Twenty20 Cups. He is an all-rounder who started his professional cricket career

at Northamptonshire where he won the Nat West trophy before joining Gloucestershire where he was a part of the treble-winning side of 2000. He made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe in 2001- 02 winning the man of the match award in his first game. Jeremy is a regular commentator on Sky Sports and After Dinner Speaker with 2008 being his Testimonial Year. Outside of cricket, he has a Masters in Sports Psychology and works with a variety of elite individuals and teams from sports and businesses as a performance coach. For more information on Jeremy’s performance coaching consultancy Sporting Edge, please visit www.thesportingedge.co.uk

sportEX dynamics 2008:16(Apr):18-19