Cricket Finland

Finnish National team camp was held at Kuortane from 3rd Feb to 5th Feb. Full details are presented below.

Objectives: 
• Review pre-camp off-season training methods and progress 
• Tactical awareness and role development for European Division 2 T20 tournament in 2012 – includes review of 2011 tournament and training statistics
• Physical testing – individual application and implications for team development and performance
• Mental skills and dynamics – focus skills, personality types (Myers-Briggs) and the team environment for performance 
• Integrate top junior athletes into senior training environment
• Technical development for bowlers and batsmen – focused sessions for primary areas in need of improvement identified from statistical and training review
• Team building and cohesion 

Outcomes: This is an important yearly event for the Finnish National Men´s team.  Aside from the specific objectives for the camp, it gives the team and coaching staff a chance to spend a focused and intense period of time together as a starting point for the build-up to the T20 tournament later in the year. With some players based away from Finland, it is a crucial time for the whole squad to be together during pre-season training. 

There was a particular focus this year on tactical awareness for T20 matches and giving the players a proactive role in applied sessions to see how the team would approach certain match scenarios. A lot of analysis of bowling and batting has taken place from training and matches which has allowed certain areas needing improvement to be identified for both individuals and the team alike. This information provided the basis for the specific skills sessions including the targets in nets/bowling machine training. Video analysis was used as a feedback tool to help players see the technical points mentioned. The scenario training allowed players also a chance to implement the skills sessions into match play to cement the learning.

The concept of focus and mental skills was covered following a personality profiling (Myers-Briggs) session. The emphasis here was on training to apply focus at important times during games and then also allow for mental recovery in between. Personality profiling has been useful in teams to foster a better understanding between players and coaches. For coaches it helped us with our coaching style approach with players and for players it gave a better awareness of what each player brings to the mix and how best to work with each other. 

Bringing three junior players to the camp was important for us in that it is an important first step to bridge the gap between junior and senior high performance cricket in Finland, whilst allowing some of our higher level junior cricketers a chance to experience what they are working towards.

Overall the weekend was productive and successful – we achieved what we had set out to cover during the weekend, even with -25 degree winter weather outside. The cold snap kept the players fresh and enthusiastic. Job done!

Written by Yaz on Mon, 06 Feb 2012