11th April 2024
| Matt Thompson
Cricket Wales are delighted to launch a new talent identification process aimed at improving the accessibility for aspiring young cricketers to enter the national pathway.
From this summer (geared towards a 2024/25 winter programme entry) the Cricket Wales pathway team will be accepting video footage as applications into the regional programme to enable more youngsters the opportunity showcase their talent.
This process will be open for boys and girls currently in academic years 7 (U12), 8 (U13) and 9 (U14) in the first instance with the potential for the process to grow beyond this in future years. For players aspiring to obtain entry at the U10, U11 age groups the nomination process will remain the same for the 2024/25 winter.
Previously only cricket clubs, schools and other cricketing organisations have been able to nominate players, but this process will facilitate greater opportunities to be identified and allow coaches increased time per player to make informed decisions in our desire to remove potential bias. The decision comes off the back of the successful pilot scheme initiated by Warwickshire in 2022 which followed PhD research that explored how errors, bias and a lack of objectivity can impact selection decisions.
Every year, Cricket Wales are in receipt of hundreds of nominations for entry into its regional programme meaning that some decisions regarding players have been based on a small sample size and a minimal number of trained eyes. The capability to offer personalised feedback was becoming a real challenge with our coaches also wanting to spend more time observing and assessing players to better understand their needs.
Head of Talent Pathway Matt Dando-Thompson said, “we remain committed to making the cricketing pathway in Wales as agile, open and accessible as possible and this new process is another step in the right direction towards that commitment. Ultimately we want to leave no stone upturned to find, nurture and develop the talent that undoubtedly exists across Wales.
Whilst a lot of that talent lies through traditional environments such as clubs, we want to look broader than that as we know so much talent exists in other areas. We want to empower young people – in whichever form of cricket they identify with – to put themselves in the shop window for pathway consideration in the knowledge that they will all have an equal opportunity to do so.
Warwickshire have really led the way in this field over the last 18 months and we’re excited at how we can adopt something similar in Wales. We’re really looking forward to welcoming players’ applications and would encourage them to engage with the tutorial videos and supporting information prior to submission.”
The nomination process will be open to anyone who matches the entry criteria with details on how to apply to be accessed via: https://cricketwales.org.uk/regionalcricket but the tutorial videos are included below as well:
New Pathway Nominations Process (English): https://youtu.be/WfQwSD85LdY
How to Submit Your Pathway Videos (English): https://youtu.be/dwy_9dSDT04
New Pathway Nominations Process (Welsh): https://youtu.be/GzmtThHuCDU
How to Submit Your Videos (Welsh): https://youtu.be/Dn-hda5u7ls
Further supporting information on your submissions, terms and conditions (including consent) can be found HERE .
The deadline for nominations will be Thursday 28th August. Our coaches will review submissions during the week of 2nd – 6th September 2023. After this point, players will be notified via email if they have been invited for further assessment, should they wish to continue. All unsuccessful applicants will be invited to a feedback session to further explain what we require for future applications from a technical standpoint.
* We WILL accept nominations from any player who may not have access to protective cricketing equipment and/or a hard cricket ball. Where you do have access to these, it is requested that you use them however.
What is the regional programme?
The regional programme is the first entry point onto the national pathway in Wales. It is the developmental stage between club cricket and County Age Group (CAG) cricket which is administered by Glamorgan CCC. The programme primary three aims are:
- To create better opportunities to provide meaningful player development experiences which broaden the talent base.
- To build foundational skillsets and competencies which allow players to perform to their maximal capability over time.
- To inspire players to commit to lifelong engagement in cricket.
The programme operates four regions – Cricket Wales North, South, East and West and operates teams from U10-U15 for boys and U11-U15 for girls currently. For a general overview of the national pathway please visit: https://cricketwales.org.uk/national-pathway.
How do I submit a nomination for players aspiring to enter the programme at the U10 or U11 stage if this new Talent ID process is for U12-U15?
We encourage anyone to submit a nomination for a player via our Google nomination form which is now live: https://forms.gle/Xq8r6xW6x8vvU3Ux5.
We would encourage clubs, schools or coaches to submit individual player nominations via this form BY THE END OF JULY, ensuring that the requested detail and information is captured. Players will be invited to a number of assessment sessions to ascertain their suitability for the programme, which will be communicated once the deadline has passed.