ECB Coaches Association links Coaching Insight 2019 | Page 14

12
The Graduates
“And on top of all that I’m also an extra
pair of hands for the first and second
team coaches.”
With having had such a clear view of
players as they’ve come up through
the system, what happens to that
relationship when they progress on to
the senior squad?
“Obviously we’ve got a set group of
coaches for the first and second team,
but because I spend so much time in
and around them at the ground and in
training, I get to have plenty of chats,
check in on where they feel they’re
at with their progress. Just because
they are directly accountable to other
coaches, not me, doesn’t mean I cut
myself off from them – after all, I’ve
got a particularly rounded view of
them as people and players, having
often known them since they were
in school.”
That being the case then, it must
feel great personally when Elliot
sees them go on to make their
professional debuts and even reach the
international arena?
“I’d love to have the time to sit down
and watch them play cricket at New
Road and feel that satisfaction, but
I’ve honestly not seen many of them
actually play there. It’d be great if I
could but, put simply, I’m on with the
next lot! I’m trying to find the next
ones that can push on to county level.”
With that being the ultimate aim of an
academy, how does that sit with Elliot
as a coach, needing to find another
Brett D’Oliveira every year?
“All I ever try to do is help someone
be the best possible version of
themselves, as a person and as a
cricketer. That can mean they go off
and play for England, or leave for
another ‘bigger’ county. If I can help in
those journeys then great,” says Elliot.
Graduate Adam Finch starred for England Under-19s and Worcestershire 2nd XI in 2018