Picture by Steve Bell/Getty Images. AJ Tye is one of the senior players who can aid the development of the county’s young guns.
“Imagine AJ Tye working with the likes of Firbank, Singh, Taylor and Wade, just to name a few.”
You can sense the excitement in James Martin’s voice as we ask about utilising some of the household names in Yorkshire’s senior squad to aid the development of the up and comers.
“That’s only going to help them given obviously the career AJ’s had and the experience and exposure he’s had to multiple levels of cricket,” continued the White Rose’s head of the performance pathway.
“And Moeen Ali as well. How good would it be for Moeen to work with some of our spinners in the Academy and EPP as well those on the senior staff?”
In honesty, the list goes on and on, and even on!
Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Logan van Beek, Adil Rashid, Jhye Richardson, Joe Root, Hasan Ali has just signed and Sam Whiteman too.
“One person I want to mention is the level of the conversations Coady has with the younger lads,” said Martin. “That’s some feedback we get off the rookies who have just signed, the conversations he has with them and the wider group as well.
“But these are the conversations I’ve had with Gav (Hamilton, general manager of cricket) over the last few weeks and months.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. James Martin, head of the performance pathway at Headingley.
“With the likes of Brooky and Rooty being around over the next few weeks, we’d love to get them around the Academy boys and those who have just signed rookie contracts. Rooty has been, and hopefully Brooky will be doing as well.
“Noah Kelly has referenced this before in the blog he does.
“He went down to Lord’s as 12th or 13th man when we played Middlesex a couple of years ago, and he was able to tap into Harry and Joe in the nets, and it’s been fundamental for his development.”
Ahead of the season, captain Bairstow did not travel to Desert Springs for the training camp, but he trained at Headingley with some of the county’s fledglings.
“Jonny’s been great with sharing his experiences,” said Martin.
“He understands the journey from the Academy through to the professional ranks, and it’s something he holds quite dear. He always speaks well around them and does what he can to help progress them.”
Last night, following the Rothesay County Championship draw at home to Sussex, head coach Anthony McGrath spoke about Root’s involvement with the Academy last week.
“On Wednesday, he did two hours with the Academy,” said McGrath. “He rung up and said, ‘Can you arrange a time”.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Joe Root put on a masterclass centered around batting against spin for the Yorkshire Academy last Wednesday.
“So he trained with myself and Mick (Lewis), and then the Academy lads came in and he did a spin session with them, how to play spin and methods and stuff like that.
“You don’t do that unless you love the game and are heavily invested in the club.
“I think Joe knows how much the club helped him in the younger years, but obviously he’s not around much but loves it when he comes back.”
Martin, meanwhile, has also been speaking about two of the girls’ Academy players, Amelia Love and Ellie Nightingale, who have both suffered long-term injuries. He has praised their characters.
Love has a back stress fracture, while Nightingale has an ACL injury. Nightingale suffered her injury on the senior squad’s pre-season tour to Potchefstroom last month, Love’s coming beforehand.
“It was a pretty tough conversation with Ellie whilst she was on tour,” said Martin.
“Both her and Amelia were on the cusp of cricket with the England Under 19s, and that’s been stripped away because of injury.
“I think the main thing for us is having clear plans and communicating to the girls as we would do if they were playing.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Amelia Love is currently recovering from a back stress fracture injury.
“And they’ve both been brilliant. They’ve dealt with it as well as you could expect. That says a lot about them but also about the environment which Jared Warner (lead coach) has created within the Academy.
“Lovey, she’s been helping to coach the Under 13s on a Saturday morning, and she’s attended all the Academy sessions just to be around the environment.
“Same with Ellie. It’s a conversation I’m happy to share. Ellie has asked if she can be around the group, the environment and the coaching staff throughout the summer even though she’s rehabbing.
“Our message to her, ‘Of course you can’.
“We want to spend as much time with them as we can because we appreciate that injuries are never nice and they can be hard to comprehend.
“I’m not going to say they’re as happy as Larry. Nobody would be. But they’re in the best place they could in terms of understanding what the process is like for the next few weeks and months as they strive to get back to full fitness.”
