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Advice for teenagers at rep trials

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Hi,

I was unsuccessful at two rep trials in my teenage years, here is my advice so that some young buck who comes across this might do better than what I did.

1) Be one thing or the other and it will increase their perception of how good you are at your chosen discipline. Unless you really are an allrounder. My friend was a rank leg spinner and a complete tail end charlie batsman. I was a decent part time offie and a decent top order batsman. My bowling was strong enough in the trials that it looked like I was an all rounder so they judged me as a batsman who bowls a bit. However, because my bowling wasn't top drawer they deducted points off my total package especially when someone hit me for a boundary. I would have been better off running in and bowling rank medium pace just to send a signal I am not a bowler. My friend by contrast - had a lucky day with the ball so caught the eye, then when he batted he absolutely stank and got out at least ten times. But they liked the fact he was useless with the bat and talked themselves into believing it was a sign he was a very good bowler. That was their logic. Be one thing or the other is the moral.

2) Go for your shots. The selectors are not impressed by a timid batsman who gets a nice not out 6 runs at the end of a 15 minute net. I fell into that trap in the under 13s and under 16s trials. I didn't want to give up my wicket. And I didn't. In fact didn't come close to getting out. But I didn't catch the eye. You catch the eye by hitting 3 or 4 boundaries during your inning. That is what people notice. It is hard though because the bowling you are facing is top drawer, all the best bowlers in the city bringing their A game. But you must put some of it away.

There you go - my theories anyway.

I think the selectors made good decisions, I just don't think I put a good foot forward for myself.

I am not still "thinking" about this - I just like to pass on advice to help people.
 

nzfan

International Vice-Captain
Great couple of points, particularly the second. You see kids after kids after kids get to Rep and bottle it. They are so pressurized they don't hit a ball off the block unlike how it originally got them to play rep cricket. Or they go the other way, trying to smash everything. Both are wrong IMO just play your game and play one ball at a time.

Bowling is about being patient and setting good fields. Bowling one side of the wicket almost always gets you wickets but you need to have the control and also set good fields.
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
1) Go to a 'good school', be connected, and look and act like a cricketer.
or the opposite
2) Come from a non-traditional cricket background. Have a whiff of being a discovery that feeds the ego of the coach and makes the org look progressive.

It is tougher when you are part of the majority in the 3rd group. i.e not particularly connected or interesting but just a good cricketer. This is where the real fight for selection happens and is very competitive. Simply, you have to stand out from the crowd. What do you offer that distinguishes you from the group?

Talking from my own experiences as a player, nets are a poor way to judge potential performance. It favours those who have a unique ability. I was selected for every rep side I had net trials for as I was almost an all-world net bowler who bowled much faster than anyone else. The truth though is that I was never much more than a good bowler in games. People are not looking for what necessarily translates on the field but what catches their eye and excites them.

From my experiences as a coach - I have always been fiercely independent as a coach but I would be lying if I didnt admit that the following played a role in selection - even if they played less of a role for me than for other selectors. The players who the coach knows or who play for colleagues who the selector respects are at an advantage. As are players who are already in the system. There is also sometime a path of least resistance where someone gets selected as it is just easier to tell someone else they have not made it. Chances are that most places are penciled in for players known to the selectors even before the nets begin. To break into the team requires something exciting and being marginally more accurate as a bowler doesnt do that.

To finish, the most talented cricketer I grew up with didnt play any rep cricket. He was something of a late developer, from a Yorkshire mining village where there are thousands of cricketers with a similar story, went to a normal state school that didn't have cricket and there was no one to advocate for him. I believe this guy could have played at any level including FC and above but he never got the chance as selection processes are both inefficient and broken. They are not going to change though so it is important to understand how they work.

Stand out from the crowd and get the coach/selector excited about cricket. For bowlers, be 6'10", or bowl at the speed of light, or be from somewhere exotic. Otherwise, erm..., wear a headband!?
 
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vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Spent five years coaching/selecting an Under 16 state championship team. We were lucky enough to have a few weeks to look at the kids, but bringing it down from 75 or so to 13 was tough work. The first cut down to 48 was always the hardest as you couldn't get a look outside of the nets - after that point, we'd get into double wicket games and get a better look.

Goughy's right (as per usual) about a lot of things; unfortunately you can't coach a kid to be 6'7, and as a bowler that's a pretty handy asset to have.

Most sides I picked, there was six/seven kids that were clear standouts. The next fifteen kids you could throw a blanket over. The biggest tie breaker was ability and enthusiasm in the field, and we did like people who could contribute in all three facets.

As a batsman, a main thing we looked at for those kids was the ability to play spin; lots of teams liked to load up on spinners and tie young kids down during the middle overs.
 

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