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[tate035]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum so if this has been discussed before then apologies . My son is a Batsman/Wicket keeper and had his 12th Birthday last week. As an under 11 he batted and bowled however he decided that as an under 13 he would try wicket keeping and therefore went to the district trials attempting to get in on his wicket keeping abilities. After a few nets he has been chosen as the 1st choice wicket keeper.

MY PROBLEM LIES HERE:
His winter nets have just started with his club and they have said that they dont really concentrate on wicket keeping and therefore want him to keep bowling in the nets

I personally dont see the point in him bowling if its something he won't be doing this season. Surely it would be better to have the wicketkeepers (of which there are 3 as they have 3 teams.. Under 13, A, B, C) outside of the net working on their skills?

Is this common in Junior nets? For me the more they practice the better they should get (as long as they get coached).

Anyone know of any good "drills" that would help him in improving his skills?

Thanks

[ppccopener]

hi and welcome.
our club has 4 age groups, 11s,13s.15s and 17's
you son has exactly the same problem as a guy i work with whose son(14) is the best bowler for his club.but he wants to keep wicket as he is in the game all the time.

this was my advise having played club cricket for 25 years:
at 11/12/13/14 years of age the most important thing is your lad enjoys what he is doing-that is absolutley vital.Many kids give up cricket for the simple reason they are not enjoying it if they have to bowl and dont want to.
What you should do is seek out the adult keepers and ask them straight out for help and tips for your lad.What response you get may tell you whether you are at the right club for your son.
As far as net's goes(indoors),plastic stumps,composite balls and get some lads to bowl at him.Stay as low as possible and left the ball come into the gloves.practice practice practice.
As your lad gets better coaching will become available to you.
That's my advice,good luck and stick at it.His enjoyment is the main thing at his age.

[roco]

Pretty common even in senior teams for the keeper to (think he can) bowl in winter nets

I coach the jnr keepers at my club and best bit of kit I have is the katchet board as a great tool for keepers and you could do drills at home in garden using this

[tate035]

hi and welcome.
our club has 4 age groups, 11s,13s.15s and 17's
you son has exactly the same problem as a guy i work with whose son(14) is the best bowler for his club.but he wants to keep wicket as he is in the game all the time.

this was my advise having played club cricket for 25 years:
at 11/12/13/14 years of age the most important thing is your lad enjoys what he is doing-that is absolutley vital.Many kids give up cricket for the simple reason they are not enjoying it if they have to bowl and dont want to.
What you should do is seek out the adult keepers and ask them straight out for help and tips for your lad.What response you get may tell you whether you are at the right club for your son.
As far as net's goes(indoors),plastic stumps,composite balls and get some lads to bowl at him.Stay as low as possible and left the ball come into the gloves.practice practice practice.
As your lad gets better coaching will become available to you.
That's my advice,good luck and stick at it.His enjoyment is the main thing at his age.

Thanks for that. He loves playing cricket. He is showing promise as a batsman and never actually got out last year (cue 1st baller this season). The main reason I think for him doing so well with his batting last year was that he wanted to practice all the time. My right arm is 4 times the size of my left due to all the throw downs I did

It has been hard to practice his wicketkeeping outside due to the weather so I was hoping the nets would give him the opportunity to practice however as it seems a common thing in Junior nets it seems I will have to grit my teeth and wait for the warmer weather

[Bruce]

Welcome to the forum.
Does he not get any keeper training at district sessions?

[tate035]

Welcome to the forum.
Does he not get any keeper training at district sessions?

He got some coaching but most of the sessions were standing up or back to the bowlers. This granted is more than he gets in the club nets. The problem seems to be that the caoches have not been wicket keepers. I dont understand this as last year the under 13's gave a lot of runs away in byes. I believe the earlier you can teach them the easier it is for them to learn.

The sessions for the district team has finished and they will only get together a week before their 1st game in May...

Looks like I have 3 months of throwing a ball down the side of the house and on tennis courts....

[A-Swing-And-A-Miss]

You're not alone with this problem of a lack of wicket-keeping coaches. We have had 6-7 coaches at our club in the last few years and none of them do wicket-keeping. The reason(I believe) for this is that you only have 1 wicket-keeper in every team, therefore only 1 in 11 players are wicketkeepers and therefore only 1 in 11 coaches have done wicketkeeping.

If I was you, I would take the advice of "ppccopener" find out who the wicketkeeper is in the senior team(I'm guessing they have both a junior and senior team at the club) and ask them for help. Most of them are happy to give help but are never given the oppourtunity to help youngsters because they haven't done the coaching course(even though they have plenty of experience. I would also try to persuade the club to do more wicket-keeper training, because like you said, byes are a real problem and can decide a game.

Hope this works out well for you and your son.

[thecord]

The best bet is to get all the keepers in the club to work together with the senior ones in charge just as in football the keepers train separately the majority of the time

[tate035]

Thanks for the replies folks....

I am going to try and see if I can change the clubs view. I know there are players of lesser ability when it comes to bowling therefore I think they would be better in small groups ( 2 or 3) trying to hit a disc on a certain length with a wicketkeeper taking the ball behind the stumps.

The bowlers then get to send down a lot of deliveries in a short space of time where as normally they have to wait for the other 6/7 other bowlers to bowl before they send down another delivery.

Also means the batters in the nets will face the better bowlers and therefore improve their batting.

Fingers crossed   It sounds good in theory...