During July, specialised cricket clinics were held in Fingal to help further develop young local players. These clinics proved to be a great success with 80 players attending. Players had the privileged to have experienced coaches’ share their knowledge regarding different aspects of the game of cricket.
A 'Fielding clinic' was held at The Hills Cricket Club with John Mooney (current Irish International) acting as head coach. Players were taught the basics of throwing and finished with fielding drills and a talk about the importance of fielding in the modern game.
A 'Fast bowling clinic' was run in North County Cricket Club with André Botha (former Irish International) acting as head coach. André talked through the principals of fast bowling and discussed the skills involved in becoming a good fast bowler. Time was also spent on the variations of bowling (in-swing, out-swing along with slower balls).
A 'Spin bowling clinic' was run at The Hills Cricket Club with Australian Matt Lunson (Phoenix CC) acting as head coach. Players were shown basic grips, techniques used and variations to finger spin bowling. Skill specific training drills were followed by a tactical and game awareness session.
A 'Batting clinic' was run at North County Cricket Club with Jeremy Bray (former Irish International opening batsmen) acting as head coach. During the clinic players were shown best practice methods of playing both spin and fast bowling. Players had the opportunity to practice a variety of shots against different styles of bowling. Areas like the 'sweep shot' and 'advancing down the wicket' to spinners were covered as well as the 'cut' and 'pull shot' when playing against fast bowlers.
A 'Wicket keeping' clinic was run by Clontarf's Robert Forrest at North County. Junior wicket keepers were shown the basic principles of keeping and then were introduced to a variety of different stations of drills to help improve their overall wicketkeeping skills.
Overall these years' clinics proved most enjoyable and informative and will no doubt benefit the players from the Fingal cricket clubs who attended.