One coach one player at nets – England’s training routine post COVID-19

“We have got six hubs around the country. Obviously accommodation and hotels aren’t open yet. We are trying to get the players as close as they can be from their homes,” England coach Lisa Keightley said on BBC's podcast, Stumped.

“About training, our biggest hub is Loughborough and we have got 11 players there, six in Surrey, three at ­­­­Leeds and one each at Hove, Bristol and Headingley. We started just sometime back and our first session went very smoothly. We are lucky that we are outdoors at the nets with one coach and one player at this time. It worked really well and the players were really excited to be back again hitting the ball, catching and throwing.”

Recently in an ICC webinar, India batter, Jemimah Rodrigues, and New Zealand captain, Sophie Devine, batted in favour of innovations in the women’s game like shortening of pitches and reducing the size of the ball. Speaking on that matter, Keightley clearly stated she isn’t in favour of the idea.

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“We have had trouble sometimes getting on good wickets but shortening the pitch will make it even harder,” said the former Australian cricketer.

“The other thing, it is going to change the game, the history, the stats and everything. I am not a fan of shortening the pitches.”

Keightley, who was given the England job last year, also revealed the ECB’s vision towards the women’s game and the Hundred were the two things that really excited her to take up the role.

“I was really excited,” she said. “What definitely interested me in this position was the backing of the ECB into the funding that they were putting into these regional hubs.”

“I think the advantage that Australia have over England at this stage is the staking programme in the system. Bringing players through a system by the time they get in and around in an English programme, they are pretty fit. They know that they are going well and training week in and week out, that’s their job.”

“So, I was really excited to hear that it was coming and the other part I was really excited about was the Hundred, a competition where there are a number of overseas players, where teams have a programme in place. But I didn't like they were coming together for a shorter period.”

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