Academy

Academy Manager / Coach = Gareth Townsend
Tel : 0207 820 5762
Mob : 07768 558039
E-Mail : gtownsend@surreycricket.com
Cape Town

2008 Fixtures and Results for the PG Surrey Cricket Academy

Match	Venue	Start	Result
Sun 13 Apr v Whitgift School	Whitgift School	11am	.
Sun 27 Apr v Normandy CC	Normandy CC	11.30am	.
Sun 18 May v Kent	Cranleigh School	11am	.
Tues 27 May v Hunts	Horsley & Send CC	11.30am	.
Thurs 29 May v Essex	Normandy CC	11am	.
Sun 8 Jun v Millfield School	Millfield School	11am	.
Sun 15 Jun v Middlesex	Merchant Taylor's School	11am	.
Fri 4 Jul v Hertfordshire	Whitgift School	11am	.
Sun 6 Jul v Bishop's School	Horsley & Send CC	11am	.
Mon 7 Jul v Kowloon CC	Normandy CC	11am	.

2007 Season Summary
Developing young players is a long-term responsibility that requires patience and understanding. In fact Arsène Wenger believes that it takes 10 years to see the finished article from players that come through their football academy system. The progress that current contracted players have made from the PG Surrey Cricket Academy is positive, and coupled with the strides that the newly recruited players are making, 2007 can be seen as the start of Surrey reaping the rewards of its elite player development system. The late season one-day performances of Jade Dernbach, Neil Saker, and Rory Hamilton-Brown were heartening and along with the impact of Chris Jordan and the progress of Stuart Meaker, show that Surrey’s bowling resources for the future are developing. Without doubt there is a maturation and learning process that these players need to experience before they can take the reins of Surrey’s future. It was pleasing at the end of the season to see Stuart Meaker become the 10th Surrey Academy Player to be offered a professional contract with the Club. Stuart will spend the winter preparing for England’s under 19 World Cup campaign in Malaysia, taking place in February 2008.

For 2007, the PG Surrey Cricket Academy looked to further its players’ development by offering a varied and challenging programme.

Central to this was a strong desire to ensure that players are, technically and physically, given the right grounding to prepare themselves for the professional game. Matt Church, our fitness and conditioning coach, drilled the players hard throughout the year and with input from our professional coaching team and support coaches, players received a high quality programme. As I have alluded to on many occasions, the programme itself is only half the equation in developing talent. Just as important are the attitude, ability and approach that our young players have, and it is these that will influence how well the PG Surrey Cricket Academy performs in producing young players for the professional game.

This year also saw the introduction of women and girls onto the PG Surrey Cricket Academy programme for the first time. Ebony Rainford-Brent and Anna Stevenson’s transition into the programme was smooth and their progress has been positive.