As the cricket season finished and the professional squad disbanded for the winter, the Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy started their structured programme to set themselves up for the following summer that loomed many months ahead.

The decision was taken in September 2007 to cut the Academy intake from 14 to ten, increasing the amount of one-on-one coaching time Surrey’s young elite players can expect.

Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy Director, Gareth Townsend, explains: “We meet as a group twice a week. We decided that we should decrease the number of players from 2006/07 squad to utilise the resources available to a greater extent. We have seen a vast improvement over the last few months where the players have been a more motivated and committed group.”

The sessions - three hours on a Monday and Thursday evening – are structured in such a way that when the season eventually comes around, the players are at a peak in fitness and form. The periodisation of the training takes the players through intense fitness, psychological and nutritional training in the first few months prior to Christmas. This is followed by technical work before moving into a competition phase where the players are put under the sort of pressure they can expect in a match situation.

Townsend commented: “This is something that we have been developing and refining each year. The assessment phase at the start of the winter provides the coaching staff with an overview, where each player is assessed physically, mentally and tactically. This then allows us to tailor a programme to each member of the Academy.”

The Pemberton Greenish Academy members are now entering into the competitive stage of the programme, where every aspect of the game is pressurised. They are pitted against one another and rated in a table.

A really positive result for the Academy is that Ebony Rainford-Brent, who has been part of the set-up for two years, is on call for England women’s tour of Australia and New Zealand. In addition, Stuart Meaker, a graduate from the class of 2007 is in Sri Lanka with the England under 19s preparing for the world cup.

Townsend said: “I am very happy with the way the renewed structure of the Academy has worked so far this winter. I think that the success we are having is demonstrated by International recognition with both Ebony and Stuart and also the players that have graduated into professional cricket.”

“The players will have to continue to work hard as we move forward into a more intense phase in preparation for the pre-season tour of South Africa and the summer ahead.”

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