Wiltshire Cricket agrees principles for its Emerging Player Programme

Wiltshire Cricket Limited has recently held meetings with its Emerging Player Programme coaches, parents and players to review the programme in terms of the winter just gone and the summer to come but also to discuss a framework to help drive the future of the EPP in Wiltshire.

What is the EPP?

The EPP is a national programme aimed at developing players between the ages of 13 – 15 in preparation for First Class county academies. It has a focus on excellence and is delivered over a 12 month period.

Wiltshire's EPP - What are our principles?

Based on hugely constructive feedback from players and parents, and on the thoughts of the Cricket Board and our team of EPP coaches, we have agreed that the following principles will act as the framework for Wiltshire’s Emerging Player Programme:

Characteristics of an EPP player:

  • We want players on the EPP who are independent thinkers and have the ability to self-reflect
  • We want players on the EPP who take responsibility for their physical condition outside of EPP sessions
  • We want players who are committed to the programme, evidenced through high attendance levels and through a willingness to learn and take on board feedback
  • We want players to be resilient; able to deal with disappointment and success in equal measure
  • We want EPP players to become role models within their county age group and club teams; exhibiting high standards of behaviour and approach to their cricket
  • We want a culture of HIGH CHALLENGE / HIGH SUPPORT, both at training sessions and in terms of the matches that EPP players play

Outcomes from the EPP:

  • We want players to have shown steady progress throughout their involvement on the EPP, across the following areas:
    - Technical ability
    - Tactical awareness
    - Mental strength; evidenced through resilience, awareness of own game (to drive self-reflection and self-learning) and confidence in own game
    - Physical competency
  • A national outcome of the EPP is for players to strive for 1st Class Academy selection. Wiltshire agrees but wants its outcomes to be broader, i.e.
    - To support development of players for Wiltshire 2nd XI and full minor county selection – as a result, selection will retain flexibility in terms of age and scope to include U17s

Summer matchplay for an EPP player:

  • An EPP player’s matchplay programme should provide the appropriate balance between high challenge matches, and matches that serve to boost confidence and success levels. We would expect a minimum of 50% of matches to be classed as high challenge

Going forward, the above information will be communicated to all players at the beginning of an EPP programme and will be the guiding principles throughout a player’s involvement in the EPP. Wiltshire Cricket believes that by going through this piece of work we will create an even stronger identity to our Emerging Player Programme as the above principles will act as a constant reference point throughout a player's involvement on the EPP.

Looking ahead to this summer

At Wiltshire Cricket, we believe contact time with our players during the summer is important and as such our current cohort of players will continue to receive support during the summer to include a range of group and individual support

Thanks to our partners

From 2017 onwards, we entered in to formal partnerships with Gloucestershire Cricket Board and Hampshire County Cricket Club to co-deliver two EPP programmes in Wiltshire.

These are dual branded programmes as follows:

  • Wiltshire/Gloucestershire EPP (based in the North of the county)
  • Wiltshire/Hampshire EPP (based in the South of the county)

Throughout the winter just gone both counties have provided wonderful support in delivering skillset sessions for our players pre Christmas and then delivering weekly sessions between January and April with our Wiltshire EPP coaches. We are already looking forward to our planning for the 2018-2019 programmes

For more information on Wiltshire's EPP and our current group of players please visit our Emerging Player Programme page.