The effects of a 14-week physical preparation programme on developing adolescent seam bowlers in cricket

From a physical demand point of view, fast bowling is reported to be the most demanding position in cricket. Unsurprisingly, physical preparation has been shown to enhance performance and reduce injury risk in adult seam bowlers. However, limited research has been conducted into the effects of physical preparation in youth developing seam bowlers. Therefore,the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a 14-week physical preparation programme on the developing seam bowler. Six developing academy-level seam bowlers (18.1 ± 1.1 years) completed a 14-week periodised bowling- specific programme. Pre/post tests across various physical qualities (strength, power, muscular endurance, speed and aerobic capacity) and bowling performance (upper arm angular velocity) were recorded. Changes from pre-post testing were measured using a paired sample t-test (p ≤ 0.01) and effect sizes.Post 14-week intervention, group relative changes showed improvement in strength (+8%), power (+2%), muscular endurance (+45%), speed (-6%) and aerobic capacity (+3). Within participant group there was no significant difference (p = 0.77) in upper arm angular velocity.Positive improvements in all physical qualities were recorded post intervention. Interestingly, this did not translate into an increase in upper arm angular velocity. Future research should consider the benefits of mixed-methods research approach, where the technical and physical characteristics are closely aligned within developmental programmes, to enhance performance and reduce injury in this population

A qualitative exploration of the South African cricket development environment

It may be argued that there are fewer sporting environments where politics and sport are so intertwined, however having undergone significant socio-political changes and development, South Africa (SA) remains a strong sporting nation with a rich and complex sporting history. After 28 years of sporting isolation, following SA’s re-entry to international competition in 1992, the country has since competed at international level and immediately reasserted itself as one of the top cricketing nations in the world. With very little non-politicised literature on the subject, the question of what SA’s talent development environment looks like in order to produce internationally competitive teams, after 28 years of isolation, remains relatively un-reviewed. In light of this, the SA cricket development environment offers a unique opportunity to explore one of SA’s oldest and most established sports.The focus of this thesis will provide a pragmatic and holistic picture of the South African cricket development environment across four features, Organisational Culture, Structural Change, Coach Development and Coach-Administrator Relationships. Consequently, the aims of this thesis are fourfold:1. To explore the use of an existing organisational framework, the Cultural Web, from the domain of organisational culture management to investigate organisational culture within SA cricket development environment.2. To gather an understanding of the development pathway of SA cricketers and investigate if the changes made to the provincial structure in 2004 have impacted on the pre-2004 development trajectory of a SA cricketer.3. To explore the learning and development environment of SA cricket coaches and their career progression.4. To explore and illuminate the operational relationship between the coach and the administration within the context of SA cricket.The four aims are addressed through the work presented in chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7. Addressing aim 1 and 2 involves the purposeful and representative selection of 12 extraordinarily experienced players, coaches and administrators with a unique and rich declarative knowledge of the SA cricket environment. Data analysis for aim 1 incorporates both deductive and inductive content analysis, presenting not only the usefulness of the Cultural Web as an effective framework to investigate organisational culture in sports organisations, but also findings unique to the SA cricket development environment.Practical findings emerged, such as the effects of a hierarchical decision-making and a questionable board-related electoral system, together with the significance of subcultures highlighting the need for coherent functioning in order to produce elite performers. Due to significant socio-political changes, a cultural shift may be required in both national and professional cricket culture to realign to the new norms and values of SA society. Theoretically, findings highlighted the use of the Cultural Web as a credible tool for analysing sporting organisational culture. Findings also place emphasis on the benefits of utilising both the materialistic and ideational artifacts of the Cultural Web by confirming the interdependence between culture, organisational structures, power and control, while at the same time highlighting the interrelated nature of the materialistic and ideational artifacts.The data addressing aim 2 was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Emergent themes have highlighted the effects of structural change on the SA cricket development pathway, such as, a.) The reduction in opportunities at the top level of domestic cricket and, b.) The loss of competitive standard of club and affiliate cricket leading to a reduction in available pathway options. The possible practical consequences of these effects that may, in the long-term, not only reduce the participation base and narrow the performance pathway, but also impact on the overall health of SA domestic and international game. Findings also reinforce the theoretical models that acknowledge sports development as an individual and non-linear process and confirm cricket as a late developing sport, thus signifying the importance of those development environments between mass participation and elite performance (school/club/university) to retain structure, competition and exhibit the greatest flexibility and coherency.Addressing aims 3 and 4 involved the purposeful selection of a representative sample (school, club, university, provincial, franchise) of 13 coaches with significant declarative knowledge underpinned by numerous, unique and multi-layered coaching experiences gathered across the SA cricket development environment. In retrieving this distinct and in-depth perspective, the data analysis for both aims 3 and 4 underwent inductive thematic analysis. Three higher-order themes emerged, 1.) Experience and development and knowledge, 2.) Disparities across operational levels, 3.) Barriers of the coach development pathway. In short, findings confirm that coaches learn through a combination of experiential learning, formal learning, and learning through mechanisms such as mentoring, while at the same time view coach education as a useful and worthwhile activity. The operational level of the coach (club, school, university and provincial) was an important factor in influencing the level of operational control and power, while increased levels of complexity was perceived at these development coaching levels due to lack of support and understanding. In addition, a lack of opportunities to progress to the elite domestic level (franchise) has reduced, by becoming narrow and defined due to the structural change made to the provincial pathway in 2004. Practically, it may be useful for SA cricket to focus on both providing more support to those coaching at the development stage and also engage those experienced coaches working out with the provincial development pathway.Data analysed in relation to aim 4 revealed four higher-order and nine lower-order themes. A dominant factor emerged impacting on the coaches linked to certain administrators lacking a general understanding of the game of cricket. This factor impacted on the coach’s environment in a number of ways. 1.) The development of a cricketer and the significance of coach’s role in this process, 2.) Incorrect and biased decision-making, 3.) Detrimental to coach evaluation, 4.) Incorrect allocation of resources. Similar points were raised in chapter 4 relating to positions of control and power residing with certain individuals who were not well informed about the environment over which they reside, leading to a misalignment between understanding and subsequent decision-making. Findings highlight a need for SA cricket to develop proactive administrators who provide a consistent message to development and performance and are supportive of the coach, through developing relationships and promoting open communication.Future recommendations for other contexts include, 1.) Utilising both materialistic and ideational artifacts, through frameworks such as the Cultural Web framework, to further investigations into organisational culture in sports organisations. 2.) To develop a broader and fundamental understanding of a sports talent development environment and the interaction of elements within the pathway, before automatically adopting cross-cultural policy and strategies. 3.) Not accepting a linear and one-dimensional view of coach development, by broadening future investigations of the complex negotiations and contexts impacting on both learning, development and career trajectory of coaches, specifically for those coaches operating at the developmental end of the spectrum. 4.) Begin amultidiscipline approach to developing and supporting greater understanding and decision-making between sports organisational level leaders and coaches.In remaining true to its pragmatic focus of generating practical and meaningful knowledge (Giacobbi et al., 2005; Savage et al. 2017) for the benefit of SA cricket, an integrated overview of the considerations and implications across 3 areas, the player pathway, the coach development and governance and administration is provided.Analysis of the player pathway revealed a significant focus on mass participation with a strong influence of the school structure and age-related provincial cricket as a pathway to provincial and franchise level cricket. Adoption of the franchise structure in 2004 is perceived to have reduced the playing base and narrowed the performance pathway, highlighting a number of sensitive areas of drop-out occurring before and after the club/university/provincial environments. Considering this, it is important for SA cricket to focus attention on maintaining the overall competitive strength of the school, club, tertiary and provincial environments by concentrating on the coherency across these elements. In so doing, influencing more experienced players to remain in the game for longer, reducing the pressure to select players select early, while at the same time impacting positively on the learning environments for young players. This was through positive player role modeling and expectation management for developing players to observe the behaviours required to progress. Structurally, by increasing and maintaining the overall competiveness of the club, university and provincial environments will enable more routes to become recognised as viable development pathways and therefore genuine selection environments.Practical implications relating to coach development highlighted factors crucial for SA cricket coach education programs to consider when providing the most conducive environment for coaches to learn and develop, especially for those at the beginning of their coaching careers, operating in the age-related players pathways or amateur environments or may not have developed the experiences from a past playing or teaching career.With regards to coach career progression certain factors, such as the experience of the coach and whether they operated within or out with the provincial pathway were perceived to impact negatively on progression, leading to some experienced coaches operating outside the provincial development pathway system being dislocated from those who were operating inside the provincial development pathway.It would be beneficial for SA cricket to review any current engagement and learning and development support of those coaches operating at the school, club, university levels across the following areas; 1.) To consider widening the Level 4 invitation for coach education opportunities to include these coaches operating outside the provincial pathway. 2.) Actively engage and support those coaches operating outside the system. Effective utilization of these experienced coaches will broaden the efficiency and coherency across development structures and assist in developing and maintaining the competitiveness of these levels. Consideration must also be given to establishing a coaches association to protect the interests of coaches in the same way the players association protects the interests of the players in order to encourage all the best coaches to aspire to the work in the top coaching positions.Due to the perceived influence of the administrator, certain factors were highlighted as significant in impacting negatively on the development environment, such as a hierarchical decision-making and a questionable electoral system and the independent nature of the provincial structure. SA cricket may wish to consider a number of factors, such as 1.) Reviewing the provincial board and franchise-level electoral system, ensuring the selection of appropriate individuals and, 2.) Review the resource and funding criteria to franchises and provinces and for this to be based on an equitable set of criteria that may be contextualised to that region.It is also important for SA cricket to ensure a conducive working relationship between coaches and administrators by building a culture of mutual trust and respect. Part of this process would include educating administrators to be more proactive than reactive and develop a relationship through open communication. This may promote administrators to provide a consistent message of support with regards to development and performance outcomes and to be more supportive of the coach’s philosophy and vision

Exploring the coach-administrator relationship within the SA cricket development environment

Research question: The increased competitive demands placed on modern sports organisations, intensifies pressures on coaches to produce positive results. These factors may increase relational tensions between managerial-sports leaders (administrators) and the leaders of sports teams (coaches). Few studies have explored the challenges facing coaches when leading upwards when attempting to achieve performance success. Utilising institutional logics and the concepts of trust and power, this study investigated the relationship between coaches and administrators by exploring the various interactions and negotiations involved when navigating this relationship. Research methods: The views of thirteen highly experienced cricket coaches, with multi-layered coaching experiences operating in the South African cricket development environment, were recruited for semi-structured interviews, raising several significant themes. Results and findings : A significant challenge to coaches were administrators exhibiting a lack of understanding of the environment required to develop cricketers, providing areas of conflict such as; perceived differences in priorities leading to non-collaborative, ill-judged and, at times biased decisions; differences in priorities affecting resource allocation to drive and sustain long-term development due short-term financial decision-making and result-driven agendas. Implications: Theoretically, this research explores how institutional logics, trust and power enhance our understanding of the coach-administrator relationship and have potential research implications for understanding similar dynamic relationships in other sport organisations. Practically, one implication for sports organisations is the role and importance of developing and applying more effective coach performance management system to alleviate potential problems in these relationships

The effects of structural change: An investigation into the South African cricket development pathway

Sports organisations face immense challenge, both structurally and organisationally, in coordinating talent development processes. This complex interaction may be exacerbated by structural change and sports policy decision-making, not only changing the way pathway elements interact and individuals progress, but also the quality of the learning and development domain. The aim of this research was to investigate the development pathway of South African cricketers and the impact of change to the provincial structure in 2004. Twelve semi-structured interviews with highly experienced players, coaches and administrators raised a number of themes. Specifically, the changes reduced elite playing opportunities and narrowed pathway options. Club cricket standards dropped, reducing its viability as a pool for talent identification and effective development. This placed stress on age-related academies as a fundamental development environment and the need to select talent ‘into the system’ earlier, which has implications for late developers and the extent to which chance influences development. Practical consequences, in the long-term, not only reduce the participation base and narrow the performance pathway, but also impact on the overall health of SA domestic and international game. Findings also reinforce the theoretical models, acknowledging sports development as an individual and non-linear process and confirm cricket as a late developing sport, stressing the importance of those development environments between mass participation and elite performance (school/club/university) to retain structure, competition and exhibit the greatest flexibility and coherency. Implications for practice and research are discussed

The Acculturation Experiences of Elite Rugby Union Coaches

Currently, little is known about how elite coaches acculturate and how they manage their acculturation environment. This studyexamines the acculturation experiences of elite rugby union coaches and their management of multicultural squads. Five maleelite coaches participated in the research. Each of the five coaches arguably fit a “best of the best ”criterion, boasting between them multiple European and U.K. domestic championships as well as multiple Super Rugby titles with similar accomplishments at the international level across 15- and seven-a-side. Inductive thematic analysis of semistructured interview data revealed three emerging themes: (a) proactively managing personal acculturation, (b) proactively managing player acculturation, and (c) critical components of a team culture. Implications for coaches managing their own acculturation experience and their respective acculturation environments are discussed

Foresee the glory and train better: Narcissism, goal-setting and athlete training

Grandiose narcissism may be debilitative to athlete training because the opportunity for self-enhancement that motivates narcissists to strive is normally absent in training environments. However, this view ignores the divergent influences of the self-inflated (reflecting over-confidence) and dominant (reflecting willingness for dominance) facets of grandiose narcissism. We expected that self-inflated narcissism would undermine athlete training, but only when dominant narcissism was low. This is because dominant narcissism may serve as the catalyst that drives those with self-inflated narcissism to train well. We further considered goal-setting as a practical means of alleviating the negative influence of self-inflated narcissism in training. Goal-setting provides athletes with an exciting vision of the future and thus can be an important self-enhancement strategy to engage narcissistic athletes in training. In the present study, 321 athletes completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-40) and the goal-setting subscale in the Test of Performance Strategies-3 (TOPS-3). Coaches of these athletes assessed training behaviors using the Quality of Training Inventory (QTI). Self-inflated narcissism predicted higher levels of (coach-rated) distractibility and poorer quality of preparation only when both dominant narcissism and goal-setting were low (and not when either was high). The findings suggest that dominant narcissism and goal-setting protect against the adverse influences of self-inflated narcissism on athlete training. The work underscores the importance of considering grandiose narcissism as a multidimensional construct and supports goal-setting as a useful self-enhancement strateg

An Evaluation of the Transition from an Amateur to Professional Culture within Hong Kong's Elite Rugby Program

Currently little is known about the development of high-performance cultures in emerging nations. This study is the first of its kind examining an emerging rugby nation’s transition from an amateur to a professional full-time fifteen-a-side programme. Eleven full-time professional male rugby union players, the Head of the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s (HKRU) Elite Rugby Programme(ERP) and the HKRU’s peripatetic sport psychologist were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interview data revealed four emerging themes, namely; 1) an amateur environment that required change; 2) ERP’s professional culture building blocks; 3) leadership strategy and managing key stake holders and 4) managing on-going challenges in the ERP’s professional culture. Theoretical and applied implications for practitioners and programme leaders responsible for driving cultural change in their respective environments are discussed