Video: What's Pre-Season Like for the First team?
3 December 2014
With pre-season training in full swing, Mark Thorburn, High Performance Analyst and Bowling Coach gives an insight into what pre-season is like for the Gloucestershire Cricket first team.
After a well earned break, what are the first couple of weeks like for the players and what is the main focus?
We certainly look to hit the ground running. The guys have had a busy schedule since returning, consisting of technical drills, conditioning drills, psychology sessions, strength training and of course Bodders’ (Chris Bodman, Strength & Conditioning Coach) dreaded track sessions.
Are the whole team training together?
The guys are generally grouped by skills set, eg fast bowlers, spinners, batsmen, wicketkeepers etc, however we all come together for the fielding sessions. The Academy players come in on a Wednesday evening and on Sundays to follow Owen Dawkins’ (Academy Coach) programme. Thankfully there aren’t too many injured bodies at this stage.
What is the main focus for training before Christmas?
Generally speaking this period before Christmas is to work on any technical refinements with the guys.
One of the best trainers and why?
Hard to say at this stage, it’s a long winter. I can only really comment on the bowlers, but Matt Taylor has worked hard in these first couple of weeks. It's very rare to hear him complain about anything, he just gets his head down and works hard.
In addition to this I’ve also been very impressed with the spinners as a group. They have worked really well together, supporting each other and moving forwards as a group.
What is the hardest part of pre-season training and why?
As already mentioned, it can be a long winter. Spending a prolonged period indoors can become quite boring and maintaining motivation can be a challenge. So ensuring the content of the programme has some variety and is progressive is important.
Who keeps everyone else motivated and keeps everyone going through a cold pre-season?
Tough question as it’s still early days, but Payney (David Payne) is always on hand with a motivational playlist for the guys (we run a lot of the sessions with music playing). Marshy (Hamish Marshall) is also very good at keeping the guys going, with a combination of humour and sage advice.
Does the intensity increase week on week?
In these first few weeks the focus is generally on the quality of practice, rather than an emphasis on the amount or intensity with which the lads are training. However, moving forwards the volume of work the guys are doing will start to increase week on week and greater importance will be placed on the training intensity.
Does all the training take place at the Bristol County Ground?
No – Chris Bodman runs a track session at Filton College and I use Wycliffe College every couple of weeks to do some run-up sessions with the bowlers.
