Advice From The Pros: Discovering Youth

Having enjoyed many successful years at Trent Bridge as both player and coach, Mick Newell has been in charge of first team affairs for over eight years.

With club sides always on the lookout for new talent, we asked Mick what he looks for in a promising junior player, and what advice he can give on developing such talents through club cricket.

Mick, you’ve just been told of a promising young talent, what qualities are you looking for?

I want match winning cricketers, people who can do well under pressure. Good athletes, good fielders are more important now too. People who can think for themselves when the game is going on are also important.

As the majority of players will not get to experience first class cricket, what advice do you have for players to enable them to reach their full potential in a club cricket side?

A lot of club players turn up at a weekend without practice. If you want to be as good a player as you can be you have to practice. It’s important to back your skills in the matches too. If you don’t have every shot in the book or every delivery you still need to execute what you do well, and that comes through practice.

As a young player trying to break into a club side, what should they be doing to get themselves noticed?

If you’re in the second team or the third team, the most important thing is to start to win games for your team. I look for players who are not out at the end of a game, if the game’s been won and you’ve done that under pressure that’s tells me a lot about a player. For bowlers it’s all about consistency of line. Bowling on the off stump all the time builds up the consistency which makes you a better bowler.

What advice would you give to a young player going through their first real bad patch of form?

Players going through a bad patch of form often move away from the basics of the game that made them a decent player. You have to try to get back to what you did when you were doing well. Try to boost your self-confidence by believing in your ability. Invariably you haven’t become a bad player, you’re just going through a bad run of form.

When you go out looking for new talent, are you looking for the completed product?             

You’re never going to get a completed product at the age of 16, you’re looking for people with the ability to learn. Can they bowl a yorker when you ask them to? With batsmen I look for players with a good solid technique so that they can expand on it.

We often hear about potential future captains, what qualities do coaches see in youngsters that makes them potential leaders?

Confidence in their own ability first of all. A good reading of the game, knowing when to change the bowling, how to set fields. Sometimes it’s born, but a lot of the time it’s through talking to the coaches. Similarly players who are always watching the game, and can conduct themselves with a good authority on the field whilst staying calm, they are the types of characters who make good leaders.

How important is it for players to take on board the advice given to them from more experienced club players?

At any level of cricket you can learn where you have more experienced players around you. But you have to be careful as some people who have played a long time can talk more rubbish! You have to sift out the good stuff, but that’s down to the individual.