PLAYER PATHWAY

boys

Girls

Chance to shine

junior cricket

Women's & girls cricket

recreational cricket

ability cricket

WALKING cricket

As a County, we pride ourselves on the fact that we won the County Championship in 2017 & 2019, Vitality Blast in 2019 with a large percentage of home-grown players. As such, our multiple entry point pathway depicts the process for a player of any age to progress to play professional cricket for the County.

There are examples of players who have progressed through the system from the age of ten in Daniel Lawrence and Aaron Beard, but there are also examples of players who have joined the pathway at different points in Jamie Porter, Paul Walter, Nick Browne and Sam Cook. Through our present coaching and scouting structure, we endeavour to select the players with the most potential at any level to ensure that we keep enabling homegrown talent the opportunity to perform at the highest level.

Under 9/10s

Eagles Nest Coaching Programme

Coaching camps for Under 9s and Under 10s. Players can be put forward by clubs and schools to receive information about the Eagles Nest Camps and then parents can book their children onto the sessions. Camps are held during the school holiday periods of October, December and February. Boys are initially able to book one place on each camp. These camps are led by Essex County Performance coaches. The period for clubs and schools to put boys forward takes place in July each year.

Primary Development Group

From the Eagles Nest programme, players can be invited to join the Primary Development Group, which focuses more on player development through further game-based activity. These sessions run through the summer.

Under 11/12s

District Under 11s

The five district boards each run assessments to select their Under 11 squads. These squads then partake in a match programme against each other through the summer. From the District Under 11 match programme, two County Area squads, Wade and Gould, are selected to take part in a short late summer development programme around August/September. The nomination period for clubs and schools to nominate players takes place in July each year.

Area Under 12s

The Wade and Gould County Area squads selected at Under 11 are invited onto a winter coaching programme which runs from November through to April. These two squads then play fixtures against each other at the start of the summer.

Essex Under 12s

After the Wade vs Gould fixtures, an official Under 12s squad is selected based upon potential shown and performances through the winter training and summer match programme. This is the first time that players form an Essex CCC County age group squad. Those who are not selected in the final CAG Under 12s squad, will all receive an invitation to Essex Under 13s Assessments for the following year.

Under 13/18s

District Under 13/18s

The five district boards each run assessments to select their Under 13s squads which are selected from relevant Under 12 and 13 players. Districts usually hold their assessments between October and November, assessing players who have been nominated from Clubs and Schools. The five district squads play a match programme throughout the summer and offer an opportunity for scouts and County coaches to view players who are not in the County squad in competitive situations. The nomination period for clubs and schools to nominate players takes place in July each year.

Essex Under 13/18s

Assessments for the county age group squads will be formed of players from the previous years county age group, players who have excelled in their respective district and area age groups, as well as players scouted through the county’s extensive scouting network. Assessments take place in January each year.

Emerging Players Programme

The EPP is an elite programme which focuses on the development of players in the Under 14 and 15 age group who the County feel have the potential to progress towards first-class cricket. They have an extended training programme throughout the winter and summer, along with a multi-format match programme.

Graham Gooch Essex Academy

Players are selected for the Academy from age group cricket by the Academy Director. The Academy runs a full elite programme to further develop and push all aspects of cricketers who are believed to have the tools capable of becoming professional cricketers. They also have a comprehensive multi-formatted match programme.

Adult

Essex Development XI - The Essex Development XI play in the East of England Development Competition and selections are made through the Head Scout, Academy Director and Talent Pathway Manager. This offers another point at which players can be scouted with a view to who has the attributes to progress to professional cricket. 

Essex 2nd XI - The Essex 2nd XI is selected by the Director of Cricket and 2nd XI coach.

MEET THE TEAM

Barry Hyam

Academy Director and Second XI Head Coach

James Clifford

Player Pathway Manager

Donovan Miller

Pathway Fast Bowling Lead Coach

John Childs

Head Scout

Maria Maplesden

Lead Pathway Performance Analyst

Lucas Pugh

Academy Pathway Strength and Conditioning Coach

Bertie Linnell

Second XI and Academy Physio

Steve Dolben

Boy's Early Engagement Programme Lead

The Essex Cricket Girl’s Pathway is built around our players. We look to offer a full and varied programme that gives the players the best chance to take their cricket to the level they aspire to.   We run two County Age Group Squads at Under 11 and Under 13, with bases in East London and Chelmsford. We run one squad at Under 15 and Under 18, with both of these provided with a regular Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Across the season the players get access to information about nutrition, sports psychology and women’s health to supplement their programme.

Nominations are sent out at the start of summer. This will be through clubs, schools and community groups. Parents or nominators can also get in touch directly by emailing us.