| Sunday 15th November 2009 |
Changes To Bowling Guidelines for Young Fast Bowlers Message from Jim with respect to changes to bowling guidelines for young fast bowlers: Parents and anyone who captains or manages a cricket match involving young players should be aware of some changes to the guidelines for maximum overs in a spell and cumulative maxima for young fast bowlers. Younger lads are given an extra over whereas older lads have had their daily maximum cut. The match restrictions for younger lads playing in club junior games are closely controlled as the rules in the leagues do not allow a bowler to bowl long spells. However, lads playing in senior games need proper control by captains. Please see this extract from the ECB website which should serve as a reminder to all of us of the potential dangers of over-bowling.http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/media-releases/ecb-alters-fast-bowling-directives,308221,EN.html My view on the monitoring of the cumulative maximum is that this can only effectively be achieved by the individual/parents. Lads might play in matches for the club, for school, for county and others. They may also practice at club/school/county as well as going off with mates for some 'unofficial' sessions. All these would count towards the cumulative guideline figures. Now, I'm sure there could be great debate about the 'nanny state' and 'it never did me any harm' etc. I'm not going to say that, however, as you just have to see how wobbly my ankles, knees, hips and back are! As a club, however, we should be coaching correct bowling actions, checking theb mechanics are safely repeatable, and sticking to the match guidelines. Parents must take a role in monitoring the overall workload and reporting any first signs of injury. These guidelines are only in respect of bowling fast deliveries and need not effect attendance at practices where fielding, batting or slow bowling can be undertaken without restriction. |