Miles hits the ground running in South Africa - with video
10 February 2015
Craig Miles is relishing his second consecutive winter on the Potential England Performance Programme (PEPP) in Potchefstroom.
The 20-year-old - who came through our Academy - arrived in South Africa earlier this week with five other pace bowlers who have been identified as having England potential.
The group will spend the next 19 days building on the technical, strength and conditioning work they have been doing in Loughborough since November - with the climate allowing them to step up their practice outdoors.
Craig, who is rooming with Middlesex’s Harry Podmore, said: “It’s my second time here and it’s good to be back. I’m familiar with the place and it’s nice to be based at one place after a lot of driving to Loughborough and back before Christmas.
“It’s a good challenge when we get here, bowling outside on grass rather than in the indoor school. It should mean I’m well-prepared for the start of pre-season training with Gloucestershire when I get back.”
The programme is being over seen by Kevin Shine, the former Somerset seamer and ECB fast bowling lead. He said the PEPP is the perfect illustration of county and country working together for mutual benefit.
Kevin said: “I’ve played county cricket, coached in county cricket and so I recognise how important it is. That’s why we work so closely with the counties on this programme, and we also stress to the bowlers that the first task for them is to be playing regular First-Class cricket for their counties. Hopefully the bigger picture of the Performance Programme, the Lions and England comes after that.
“We keep their counties informed throughout and then we keep a very close eye on them throughout the summer. All the technical things for them to work on are jointly agreed by the players and counties. It’s a very joined-up process."
The PEPP bowling group was started by former England fast bowling coach Troy Cooley nine years ago, with the first group heading out to Chennai in India. And Kevin says the programme has developed and got better each year since then.
He said: “I think it’s our flagship programme in terms of the time we have with a small group through the winter. It’s evolved every year since we first set it up and this year we’ve got some real groundbreaking stuff back in Loughborough which allows us to understand how to coach the bowlers technically in greater detail than ever before.”
To view a video interview with Craig and roommate Harry Podmore click below.
