Spinners...0 - Batsmen...1?

Spinners...0 - Batsmen...1?

Dan Brown hits out

©Colin Ebdale

Spinners...0 - Batsmen...1?

Gordon Muchall passes on some tips

©Colin Ebdale

Northern Universities Student Club-Community Cricketers Elite (NUSC) sponsored by the iconic Hilton Newcastle Gateshead continued its Winter Training Programme (WTP 2011) at the stunning Durham CCC Riverside ground in Chester Le Street.

Not always the easiest talk to give or be received the session started with the players being fully briefed as to what is expected of each group and how everything is geared to the summer even in October-November.  Every ‘net’ session has an aim to develop the players and it was fantastic to see how the players reacted to produce a very impressive session on Saturday.

Two big surprises greeted the players when they looked at their session timetable….the hard working seamers worked hard again but this time in a dedicated batting masterclass session with Gordon Muchall and Ronny Boyd as the club moved towards recognising the importance of all players batting fundamentals. The other surprise package was the spinners vs batsmen ‘match’.  3 batsmen vs 3 spinners, 5 wickets, sprint every run and bat until you are out a game is always stacked in the bowling teams favour or so you would have thought? 

This year a carefully selected crack team of batsmen set about making their mark as the likes of Dan Brown were still batting outstandingly when the session clock ran out at 1200 a good 100+ minutes of batting behind them which for November is not only a good sign of fitness but concentration.  For the spinners, it was a tough day at the office as just like in a match the batsmen kept them in the field for the whole session.  No doubt after a detailed video debrief from coach Ash Patel the spinners will be back seeking a considerable haul of wickets in their next ‘match’.

So that is three sessions down, 5 left until Christmas.  Week 4 is going to be a whole new ball game with the bowlers looking to even the score as the club introduces another session structure twist to keep the players on their toes.   To follow the clubs progress throughout the winter log onto www.cricketworld.com/cricket_organisations/nuscccelite/