Where has Cricket gone Wrong for South Australia..?

[Dog_ger]

Not being an Authority on this Great Game.

It seems we don't have the Technique for some reason.?

I think this must be taught as young as posible.

Is it the private schools that are to blame?

Where have all the great coaches of youth gone..?

Interesting to know what schools all the great players in SA came From...?

I hope I don't offend any cricket people here.....

[brod]

Really people shouldnt be offended. The state of the game of cricket in SA has not fallen over in the last six months, it has been a downward turn over the past two decades, ideas shoud be welcomed and embraced.

[stan]

Not being an Authority on this Great Game.

It seems we don't have the Technique for some reason.?

I think this must be taught as young as posible.

Is it the private schools that are to blame?

Where have all the great coaches of youth gone..?

Interesting to know what schools all the great players in SA came From...?

I hope I don't offend any cricket people here.....

I think it comes down to a problem at grade cricket. I believe that at the moment the step up to state level is huge. The main reason I see for this is that grade cricket is only at a certain level. I believe that in strenghening this comp it will help develop players to the point where they can step up to the state team and at least have a chance. But thats just my opinion, disagree at will.

[locky801]

Think you are right on the money Stan, our District scene IMHO is not all that healthy at the minute, what the answer is who knows, possibly too many teams and not enough talent to fill the sides etc, just have to look over the last few seasons, two or three years ago Port Adelaide were easily beaten game in game out, whereas they have improved now Prospect are the easy beats of the Comp.

Think that we really need to get back to basics with coaching etc, but S.A. cricket has been on the slide for quite a while which is suprising with the talent we always seem to have in the side.

I am not sure on the school side of cricket these days, I know the colleges still play and have good coaches, as for high schools and that I have no idea if they still play and have decent coaches as was the days when I was there (some 35 years ago)

[Grahaml]

Private schools do a heck of a lot for cricket in this state by giving them good coaching and actual turf experience from a young age. The reality is we're a fairly small state and our cricketers aren't that good. We don't have the population to create stacks of young cricketers, and so we're stuck with the same blokes each year. Look at the guys we have in the team, and how many of them have produced good consistent cricket. You get stuck at Lehmann, Elliott and Gillespie. The rest are kids who had perhaps one good season in the last 3. Until those kids stand up more regularly we will continue to suffer batting collapses, and will struggle to bowl a team out for less than 300. Need more talent IMHO. Hopefully these kids have the talent, but there's too many of them to expect more than what we're getting ATM.

[GWW]

Private schools do a heck of a lot for cricket in this state by giving them good coaching and actual turf experience from a young age. The reality is we're a fairly small state and our cricketers aren't that good. We don't have the population to create stacks of young cricketers, and so we're stuck with the same blokes each year. Look at the guys we have in the team, and how many of them have produced good consistent cricket. You get stuck at Lehmann, Elliott and Gillespie. The rest are kids who had perhaps one good season in the last 3. Until those kids stand up more regularly we will continue to suffer batting collapses, and will struggle to bowl a team out for less than 300. Need more talent IMHO. Hopefully these kids have the talent, but there's too many of them to expect more than what we're getting ATM.

We are a small state, but Tasmania is smaller and they've outperformed us for some time now. WA wouldn't be a great deal bigger than us either, but have consistently outperformed us as well.

I think its only in the last 15 or so years that we've gone downhill, prior to this i think we performed fairly well although we probably should have produced more test players than we have since we've had a first class team.

[sydney-dog]

grade cricket

[Stumps]

people who have played both generlly say SA grade cricket is as good as WA, TAS, VIC,
QLD and NSW have strong comps but the bottom few teams in their comps are supposedly horrible and worse than SA's bottom sides. . There are heaps of blokes who have gone interstate and played good First grade after struggling inSA. Also if grade cricket is so Bad how can Jborgas take to first class cricket like a duck to water last year, how can tom plant go from glenelg one week to 130 against the best spinner in the world the week after, how can C ferguson average less than 25 in district cricket but when he entered state cricket be touted as a future testplayer, D harris in his first 1st class game 5 or 6 years ago batting through the first session agaist wasim and waqar, / our batsmen in particular have had no problems finding their feet at 1st class level its been being consistent after their first year. Blaming grade cricket is the easy option IMO- the harder answers are out their (i dont know what they are) but people probably arent asking the right questions...

[youngster]

I believe that we do not have the population to support 13 A grade sides of a high quality. The SACA is either too gutless to make the hard calls to reduce the number of grade cricket teams - or the clubs wield too much power. IIRC a few years ago Port Adelaide was set to be culled, but subsequent court action ensured they remained. Maybe a constitution change needs to be made to ensure that the hard calls are made? Or maybe out of left field Premier Grade Adelaide Turf becomes a relegation/promotion zone and Div 2 of the SACA?

A reduction of grade teams will benefit not just the state team with the best competing against the best with no easy games earned at A grade level, but cricket at all levels will increase in standard with blokes not playing at district clubs filtering down to Adelaide Turf and the Hard wicket competitions.

[smithy]

I've been blaming the number of district clubs for a while youngster, and whilst probably that is a good reason why our cricket isn't as good as what it should be, it's worth noting that 20-30 years ago when Adelaides population was around 900k we had 14 district clubs and an E Grade.
Quite a lot of good players came through during that time and the SACA's sure as hell showed a lot more character than what we've been seeing the past 3-4 years.

[Grahaml]

Tasmania might well be stronger now, and WA are as well but that's the nature of a small population base. You get a more cyclical standard than consistent. Tas were crap for year before they got a few good players who perform each season. WA have had guys like Langer, Gilchrist and Martyn keep them in good stead. If these guys came through our system they would succeed, no doubt at all. We just didn't have the talent come through 10 years ago, and we can't fix that now. Who were the kids on the scene in the years after our last win? Who are the 28-30 year olds in the team? A top level team of any sport should have a few kids, a few older players but a core group of players in the prime of their careers. Hopefully from this large group of guys aged 21-26 that we seem to have will become that core group in 2-3 seasons time

And the weakening of the grade system comes as a result of less guys playing the game. It may well be that this needs revamping but it sounds very much like people think we should just change for the sake of it. What if the reality is we already have the best set up? The SACA does need to change with the times but admin, coaching and all the money in the world doesn't replace a sheer lack of talent.

[Hondo]

Taking GrahamL's great post one step further ...

Is the standard-slipping happening across Australia? Due to improved pay for Shield players (I assume), the better players are staying on to their late 30s. Is this hiding any problems with the standard of our next generation or limiting the promotion of these young guys?

Are our kids still playing cricket in the same numbers as they used to?

I am getting off topic I know - but it would be interesting to predict an Australian test side for season 2012-13 and see what holes there are, if any

[locky801]

Think both Graham and Hondo are pretty well on the mark here, they have bought up points I know I had not thought of. It does come back to juniors playing cricket and the right coaching. I know that I started playing cricket for my school in Grade 6 (I am going back over 40 years here) by the time I was 12 I was playing C grade in a local side and by the time I was 18 I was in A grade. The club I played for had 5 sides, a few went on and climbed the tree to higher levels (not me unfortunately). I don't think you see that these days. How many Primary schools have a cricket team in SA to my knowledge none, yes they have Kanga cricket. I have a son that is involved in it and I think the way they are taught to participate in this game does more harm than good. Yes we have to get back to basic cricket and teaching basic cricket skills to primary school kids and the encourage them to move up nthe ladder through local clubs. For petes sake, womens cricket in SA has the Scorpion Shield for young girls to play in (both my daughters do) but for some reason there is basically no real comp for under 12 boys that I am aware of (I may be wrong)

[Grahaml]

I would expect the private schools still have a turf comp for 10 year olds (and onwards) as they did when I was that age. I also expect that a large proportion of the grade cricketers came through private schools. There's at least 3 from my year at school playing A grade district cricket.

[heater31]

For petes sake, womens cricket in SA has the Scorpion Shield for young girls to play in (both my daughters do) but for some reason there is basically no real comp for under 12 boys that I am aware of (I may be wrong)

there is such a comp for boys as called the Ray Sutton Shield for u/13. this is where the Grade clubs begin to identify potential talent for their u/14s



If you think the mens side of SACA have issues just wait until your daughter is selected in the womens state sides. 100 times worse than the redbacks.

My sister is in the U/19 squad and they have been told they aren't going to the national champs this year and there fore must move up to the 2 XI comp for this season. For the second year in a row she has had to play above her age level and the results are getting worse

Getting back to this Kanga topic, I think it is bad for cricket in general. it gives the kids the wrong idea about the game. the current target age group is too high and should be aimed lower. Now I missed the boat with this kanga stuff and thank christ I did. Not that it was available to me living in a country town. From the age of nine I was chucked into the deep end with real cricket balls (156g mind you) and just before the age of helmets and had to learn the basics. I think today that Iam still trying to get the basics. once kids graduate from Kanga they find it boring and hence stop playing.

Coaching has a lot to do with it also. now there is an employee of SACA running coaching courses actively advocating the way to teach batting to kids is to plant their front foot down the wicket and bash the living crap out of it and hope for the best. It might work for Ricky Ponting but I can bet a pallet of beer that at the age of 10 he had the basic fundamentals of the game under control. This employee has played ODI cricket for Australia mind you as a bowler

[GWW]

Name of this coach start with "Z" h31?

[heater31]

Name of this coach start with "Z" h31?

yep, obviously you have been a student of his coaching courses. Speaking of which he was running one at our club tonight

[GWW]

Name of this coach start with "Z" h31?

yep, obviously you have been a student of his coaching courses. Speaking of which he was running one at our club tonight

Hehe nah just worked out who might have been a coach around the SA cricket scene, represented Australia as a bowler but not in Tests.

[heater31]

Name of this coach start with "Z" h31?

yep, obviously you have been a student of his coaching courses. Speaking of which he was running one at our club tonight

Hehe nah just worked out who might have been a coach around the SA cricket scene, represented Australia as a bowler but not in Tests.

good if you ever do tell him that he is fulla shite. Fell off my chair laughing when my old man told me as a 15 year old

[rainbow warrior]

I blame the youth policy Paul Nobes enforced a few years ago. Bringing bloeks in that werent ready and hadnt done enough at Grade Level consistently enough whilst burning blokes who were doing ok. This is why Flipper never got the chance to succeed. Youth policy's rarely work, what ever happened ot having to earn a game. This is what makes a good player, the hard work getting there is what it is all about. once oyu get there, you need to take it knowing how hard you have worked to do it.