cricket trials in gloucestershire/somerset
 

8-)Hi , my son is 8 years old and is a fantastic bowler .He can bowl on a full size pitch and very often hits the stumps. At the moment he is playing in a u11 team as the u9s is just not doing him any good . Please can anyone advise me on how to take him further with his bowling skills
thanks sue

This forum probably isn't the best place for this type of thread, I'll move it into the Coaching Forum :)

thanks!!!!!!!
 

thanks for that , i'm new to the site

Hi,

I'm going to assume from your post that your son is going to start Year 4 in September (which is classified as Under 9 by age groups in all sports). There are only a handful of Counties that run Under 9 development squads, but virtually all include Under 10s as part of their development programme - and these squads include U9 and younger players if they're good enough. Saying that, I am not sure that Gloucestershire do, as we (Oxfordshire) do not play them. It is not unusual for an eight-year-old to play in U11 sides: representative selection/trials will be looking for more than this: all-round players who can contribute in both departments, or outstanding fielders, will be high on the priority list.

Qualification to play for a County youth side is based on three things: (a) where you live, (b) where you go to school, and (c) where your club side is. So, based on, this, I'd suggest you contact the Cricket Development Manager for the relevant County, and ask them how best to proceed.

Gloucestershire's CDM is Steve Silk - email Steve.Silk @ glosccc.co.uk
Somerset's CDM is Andrew Moulding - email andrew.moulding @ ecb.co.uk

Best of luck, and let us know how you get on!

Neil gives you great information. From my POV, Id say get to know the right people but dont worry about taking it too seriously until U13s.

Up until then it is basic skills development (there certain things that make a bowler get lots of wickets at U9s and make a child stand out that do not translate to U13, U14 etc).

The key, in my opinion, is maintaining interest levels, having fun and getting in the nets and being creative. Too much structure at too young and age is not ideal.

Speak to the coach to put him into the Under9 team. His bowling will develop more the more confident and older he gets.
Hope that helps.