Former England assistant coach Matthew Maynard this weekend travels to Dubai ahead of the start of ICC Europe Men's Academy.
The ICC Europe Men's Academy is the pinnacle of the Development Programme calendar and is held annually every February. The academy brings together expert coaches across Europe to work with emerging talent across the men's game. It is being held at the ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) at Dubai Sports City, Dubai from 13-23 February 2011.This year Maynard has been brought on board to join four coaches ICC Regional Performance Officer Philip Hudson, ECB's Head of Elite Coach Development Gordon Lord, strength and conditioning coach Mark Nash and Dr Joce Brooks, Sports Psychologist. Maynard has previously worked for Glamorgan CCC and as England batting coached from the winter of 2004 until 2007.Maynard is keen to work in other aspects of the game: “This is the first academy I have worked on with ICC Europe, in previous roles I have worked with professional first class players, as well as full member international teams; what excites me regarding this role is to be able to try and help develop players at Associate cricket level and to see how this would differ from previous roles I have worked in, I'm very much looking forward to working with a new breed of player."There are many months of preparation that goes into organising the logistics and the programme for this event, but also from the coaches involved themselves: “After looking through all the players' history, I contacted them to ask which two specific areas they would like to concentrate on, they all responded their specific areas; I now have a basic idea before I have even stepped into the nets what areas the players themselves are looking at. I am hoping that with this preparation I can help them feel more comfortable in these areas and then see the progressive development," said Maynard.The ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) is a fantastic location to stage an Academy with its facilities and resources. Opened for four months, Europe region is the first of the five regions to use the facilities and Maynard pinpoints this as a great aspect of the academy.“The different conditions available at the ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) are great for the players and for coaches alike, the different pitches ranging from sub-continent to Australia wickets preparing the players for different conditions is a real positive. We will be working on batting and bowling skills for the players, with the One Day International aspect of manipulating different skills for different forms of the game."Joce Brooks who is a member of the coaching team will be very important to prepare and analyse the players mental approach side to the game which in modern international cricket is becoming more and more important,"said Maynard.The academies are very important to assist in the development of cricket within the ICC Pepsi Development Programme and Maynard is thoroughly looking forward to his role: “The academy environment is always very rewarding experience, the players we have are a good range of experienced and youth players and with the training programme in place it should be great for all those involved.“On a personal coaching level I am hoping to build relationships on the trip and see how these develop, helping progress the players and within the coaching environment," concluded Maynard.
