Summer term training

Cancellation of outdoor training due to rain / wet ground

In summer, outdoor training is cancelled when it is not possible to enjoyably and safely train on grass - i.e. due to rain/high winds/lightning and/or the ground is wet and slippery. We aim to let you know as quickly as possible when we know that training needs to be cancelled. We use Whatsapp groups as our primary means of communicating this to you. In the summer, there will be a Whatsapp group for parents in each squad.

Equipment to bring

A typical summer training session, outdoors on the lower pitch at our home ground.

What would a typical training session be like normally?

Training sessions generally follow the ECB’s recommended best practice, for example for U6-U8s, a session might look like this:

However, sessions tend to be tailored to the needs of the players attending, and will be varied to keep them interesting.

What skills will players learn at outdoor training?

Outdoor training in the summer tends to have more focus on developing players' understanding of how to play the game as a team - the rules,  calling and running between the wickets, working as a team in the field and tactics and decision-making depending on the match situation. 

Indoor training over the winter and spring tends to have a bit more focus on developing individual players' skills - bowling, batting, catching, throwing and keeping wicket. 

However, both indoor and outdoor training will cover core all skills and will incorporate game-based practice.

Even in the youngest age groups, we aim to teach all of the players a full range of cricket skills. By the end of a full course, new players are typically able to play a recognisable game of cricket in which they are bowling, batting, calling, running, keeping wicket and fielding. 

Coaching best practice is to focus on just one or two key skills per session, gradually covering a full range of skills over the course. This means you might, for example, see coaches seeming to ignore that a player is throwing rather than bowling with a straight arm. This is likely because bowling technique is not the focus of the session.

New players also pick up much of their understanding of the game by watching and copying their more experienced squad-mates. Of course, the more cricket that players play, the more skilled they will become. Cricket is a fairly easy game to learn, but a difficult game to truly master, which is partly what makes it so much fun.

360 Cricket co-owner Robbie holding an end of session recap with one of our indoor training groups.

SMCC Juniors lead coach Lottie (left) and SMCC Women's 1st XI / support coach Crystal (right) running a summer camp.

Parking

We have a relatively small car park with a narrow entrance/exit. Please walk or cycle if possible. Please be considerate of other car park users if you need to drive. Do not at any time park on the emergency vehicle access route marked in yellow paint on the ground. Do not block other cars in the car park. Consider dropping off and picking up near the club rather than using the car park. 

Please note the crossing by the club lacks pedestrian crossing lights. We will continue to lobby Transport for London to introduce them. 

Rules for parents/guardians