Professional cricketers get asked variations of the same question all the time, how did you or how do I become a professional cricketer? Well here at Keith Prowse, we thought we’d look at this and give you the inside scoop on how to make it to the very top.
Early years
Children have vivid imaginations, we know that, and often dream of becoming scientists, astronauts or professional athletes. Parents often then face the constant battle with their children changing their minds, week in week out, on what they want to become next. In some cases, schools either cover these activities in the curriculum or run after school clubs. Either way, it’s important children get the opportunity to try their hand at different sports or topics, cricket in this case.
If they enjoy playing at school the next step might be to try a taster/training session at a local club. This is generally where the child will either say I love this and want to join or will express doubts and want to try something else.
Next steps
At this point the player will join their local club, where training sessions happen weekly with qualified coaches and play matches against other local clubs (soft ball under 10 and below or hard ball under 11 and above). The weekly training, coaching and matches will improve the child’s ability week on week year on year. However, this process can be sped up through 1-1 coaching; this can be expensive but, thoroughly worth it as the progression made is normally substantial.
A key stage is making the change from playing soft ball to hard ball. This is often where some children drop out, as it’s harder to hit the ball as far and can hurt if you get hit. However, children often grow and get significantly stronger over the years of 11 to 16, making the transition easier. In a players early teenage years, counties might start to earmark talented players and invite them to sessions where coaches can take a better look at the player. If selected, they will receive coaching and play matches with other very talented players of the same age.
By this stage, the player will probably be playing adult cricket for their club; if their club play to a high enough standard this will continue to develop their ability but if not, they should look to join a club that will challenge and improve them.
Road to becoming professional
From here, it will come down to putting consistent performances in to gain the attention of the players local county team. When noticed, you will most likely be invited to train with the county, where the coaches will decide if you are good enough. If you’re deemed to meet the grade, you will get the chance to play in some second team games. Impress here and you will be offered a short-term contract where it will be sink or swim.
The next step is to really knuckle down and produce performance after performance, where the national selectors will earmark you as a player of interest. To get selected the player will need to sustain a high level of performance for around two years before being considered.
There is a team that play below the international first team, called the England Lions. Most of the time players that the selectors want to look at will get selected for a Lions tour, this enables the selectors a chance to see if they’re good enough to play at international level. Success here will often result in the moment you’ve been working for, selection for the England first team.
So there it is, the road map to becoming an international cricketer all laid out for you. As you probably expected, it’s not easy but one thing for sure is, if you ask any current England player it’s fully worth the years of hard work, dedication and perseverance.
