Writing exclusively for All Out Cricket, Glamorgan seamer James Harris lifts the lid on life behind the scenes at the England Performance Programme. This week the boys got some lessons in public speaking ahead of their overseas tours.
Our final week in Loughborough for the winter. For everyone this is always a very pleasurable thought as it either means the start of another season or a trip abroad. With the performance programme lads splitting into two groups (seam bowlers heading to South Africa and the batsmen and spinners off to India) it will be the last chance to see each other before Christmas and the New Year.
Monday November 14
Another early morning start this week meant that many of the lads made the trek to Loughborough on the Sunday night and then met for breakfast next morning in the university. Just two weeks away from heading overseas, it was now time to start getting back into some skills work. The boys got stuck into some batting and fielding but as my groin was still a little ginger I was ruled out of all the fun stuff. Instead my day and pretty much whole week was to be spent between the physio bed and the gym, getting back into running and moving pain free.
Tuesday November 15
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous blogs was the early morning sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, otherwise known to the lads as ‘Fat Club’. These sessions are cardio-based and take place before breakfast for the guys who didn’t reach the necessary standards when the calipers were brought out to measure everyone’s skin folds. Now, I can’t really divulge who exactly is forced to go to these sessions, but I will say that while this was going on I was well and truly tucked up still in bed. Also, as I’ve never been forced to go, I don’t really know what these sessions involve but the boys who appear late to breakfast look like they’ve been put through a really tough session!
More batting and conditioning for the guys and more boring stuff for me to do in the gym rounded off the morning before we had another guest speaker to fire some questions at in the shape of the current number two ranked Test bowler Jimmy Anderson. Jimmy was great, and to finally get a bowler in to talk to really helped all the seamers, as we’d had our fair share of batters previously. More fielding and skills followed that, and then we really had to get into concentration mode because at 5.30 we began a three-hour session on public speaking.
It began with all the players having to get up and talk for a minute about themselves. The session began in hysterics; James Vince stood up first and introduced himself as ‘Karl Pilkington’ – a nickname given to him by some of the lads – before carrying on his speech. What I forgot to mention was that we had an outside facilitator called Nick taking this session. So when Vincey returned to his seat, Nick turned to him and asked ‘So, Karl how was that?’ The room burst out laughing, as you can imagine. Rolling on one-by-one the boys got up and said their piece. It was also becoming apparent to a few of the boys that after each speech, Nick would ask each of us: ‘So, how was that?‘ The boys hatched a plan between a few of them and the next time that Nick delivered his line the chance was seized upon and four of the lads jumped to their feet in a chorus of ‘HOWWWZAAAATTTT!!!’ Again, the room was in complete hysterics. I don’t think Nick knew quite what had hit him but it was all taken in good spirits and everybody learned some valuable lessons about public speaking, the particular skills needed to do it successfully and also got some stuff to work on in order to improve. This was by far the longest day many of us had gone through, the early risers went from 6.30am until we finally signed off that evening at 8.45.
Wednesday November 16
This day was to generally follow the template for the whole week, to cover all bases on what needed to be achieved before the boys set off overseas. There were fielding, skills and strength sessions to be done in three groups to be completed throughout the day. For me it was more of the same as well. I was fine lifting weights but the other sessions were back on the treadmill pounding away. I was progressing really well and better than expected from a week earlier. Doing rehab and not being able to be part of the group is a really tough time and something many players say is the most difficult thing to overcome during their career.
That morning we were also told that we had some media guys coming in the next day as a bit of a meet and greet session and just to get us comfortable with that situation. The plan for this was for us to have some media training that evening, just to give us some preparation. This consisted of lots of talking and watching examples of the good and the bad. The idea behind this was to also give us an understanding of an England media conference before we may potentially have to face one in the future.
Thursday November 17
As we approached the end of our last week together there was a bit of a switch in focus to preparing to travel. All of the kit and logistics were sorted; a vital cog in making sure that the trips run smoothly. There were also talks from the physio and nutritionist about how to stay healthy when traveling abroad and the guys going to India in particular needed to take note of this. Then the lads had some batting fitness to do with the media guys arriving and taking notes.
For me though, I had to take on the challenge that has now been named ‘Harris Hill’. It started off when the physio Youngy and myself grabbed a couple of bikes and went to find a suitable place to run around the university. We ended up finding this quiet hill and devised a plan. I was to sprint up it, with Youngy in tow shouting my split times at me on his bike. I was to do five, all in all; top to bottom was about a minute and I could sit on the bike to get back down. In order to take on the challenge of the fifth sprint you had to complete all previous four in under a minute and then go for gold on the last. I did just that and with my legs and lungs burning, I went for it. Crumpled on all fours on the finish line at the top, I had completed the challenge in 54 seconds and so ‘Harris Hill’ was born. I’m eager to see how the others compare.
Just prior to lunch we were introduced to the media. We pretty much had all the top cricket journalists from all of the newspapers around the country, broadsheet and tabloid. We sat and talked for an hour about various topics and it was just as much about us grilling them as them grilling us. After a quick and, as always, very healthy lunch we were back for another guest chat and we had the great pleasure of having Michael Vaughan come in to talk to us. Michael’s talk was very good and we were able to go through his whole career, highs and lows, and where his cricket has taken him since his retirement.
After that it was yet more skills and fitness work and to round off our final evening in Loughborough the lads saw fit to go and hit the Xbox back at the houses with some Call of Duty and FIFA action. Alex Hales brought his projector up with him so we could play on a big screen and this is something that will definitely be making it’s way abroad with us in order to waste away a few hours when there is time to kill.
Friday November 18
Our final morning in Loughborough and there were only a few loose ends to tie up. After an early strength session followed by some cardio the boys picked up their gear and said their goodbyes to everyone before having a swift lunch and hitting the motorways to get home. I had to hang around a bit longer to talk over some stuff with the physio about what my next 10 days will entail before getting on the plane to South Africa. All in all though, it had been a hugely successful week; I was back running and cycling well and with no pain which is great. I’m pretty much heading to South Africa fully fit which is perfect and exactly what this time in Loughborough was meant to achieve. Now that both sets of guys have gone their separate ways we’re hopeful that we’ll be picked to join up together in January to form the England Lions squad. The squad will be picked by the selectors sometime in December so everyone will be watching intently for any news.
Click here to read week two of James’ blog.
AOC Exclusive: James Harris’ England Performance Programme Diary
Writing exclusively for All Out Cricket, Glamorgan seamer James Harris lifts the lid on life behind the scenes at the England Performance Programme. This week the boys got some lessons in public speaking ahead of their overseas tours.
Our final week in Loughborough for the winter. For everyone this is always a very pleasurable thought as it either means the start of another season or a trip abroad. With the performance programme lads splitting into two groups (seam bowlers heading to South Africa and the batsmen and spinners off to India) it will be the last chance to see each other before Christmas and the New Year.
Monday November 14
Another early morning start this week meant that many of the lads made the trek to Loughborough on the Sunday night and then met for breakfast next morning in the university. Just two weeks away from heading overseas, it was now time to start getting back into some skills work. The boys got stuck into some batting and fielding but as my groin was still a little ginger I was ruled out of all the fun stuff. Instead my day and pretty much whole week was to be spent between the physio bed and the gym, getting back into running and moving pain free.
Tuesday November 15
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous blogs was the early morning sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, otherwise known to the lads as ‘Fat Club’. These sessions are cardio-based and take place before breakfast for the guys who didn’t reach the necessary standards when the calipers were brought out to measure everyone’s skin folds. Now, I can’t really divulge who exactly is forced to go to these sessions, but I will say that while this was going on I was well and truly tucked up still in bed. Also, as I’ve never been forced to go, I don’t really know what these sessions involve but the boys who appear late to breakfast look like they’ve been put through a really tough session!
More batting and conditioning for the guys and more boring stuff for me to do in the gym rounded off the morning before we had another guest speaker to fire some questions at in the shape of the current number two ranked Test bowler Jimmy Anderson. Jimmy was great, and to finally get a bowler in to talk to really helped all the seamers, as we’d had our fair share of batters previously. More fielding and skills followed that, and then we really had to get into concentration mode because at 5.30 we began a three-hour session on public speaking.
It began with all the players having to get up and talk for a minute about themselves. The session began in hysterics; James Vince stood up first and introduced himself as ‘Karl Pilkington’ – a nickname given to him by some of the lads – before carrying on his speech. What I forgot to mention was that we had an outside facilitator called Nick taking this session. So when Vincey returned to his seat, Nick turned to him and asked ‘So, Karl how was that?’ The room burst out laughing, as you can imagine. Rolling on one-by-one the boys got up and said their piece. It was also becoming apparent to a few of the boys that after each speech, Nick would ask each of us: ‘So, how was that?‘ The boys hatched a plan between a few of them and the next time that Nick delivered his line the chance was seized upon and four of the lads jumped to their feet in a chorus of ‘HOWWWZAAAATTTT!!!’ Again, the room was in complete hysterics. I don’t think Nick knew quite what had hit him but it was all taken in good spirits and everybody learned some valuable lessons about public speaking, the particular skills needed to do it successfully and also got some stuff to work on in order to improve. This was by far the longest day many of us had gone through, the early risers went from 6.30am until we finally signed off that evening at 8.45.
Wednesday November 16
This day was to generally follow the template for the whole week, to cover all bases on what needed to be achieved before the boys set off overseas. There were fielding, skills and strength sessions to be done in three groups to be completed throughout the day. For me it was more of the same as well. I was fine lifting weights but the other sessions were back on the treadmill pounding away. I was progressing really well and better than expected from a week earlier. Doing rehab and not being able to be part of the group is a really tough time and something many players say is the most difficult thing to overcome during their career.
That morning we were also told that we had some media guys coming in the next day as a bit of a meet and greet session and just to get us comfortable with that situation. The plan for this was for us to have some media training that evening, just to give us some preparation. This consisted of lots of talking and watching examples of the good and the bad. The idea behind this was to also give us an understanding of an England media conference before we may potentially have to face one in the future.
Thursday November 17
As we approached the end of our last week together there was a bit of a switch in focus to preparing to travel. All of the kit and logistics were sorted; a vital cog in making sure that the trips run smoothly. There were also talks from the physio and nutritionist about how to stay healthy when traveling abroad and the guys going to India in particular needed to take note of this. Then the lads had some batting fitness to do with the media guys arriving and taking notes.
For me though, I had to take on the challenge that has now been named ‘Harris Hill’. It started off when the physio Youngy and myself grabbed a couple of bikes and went to find a suitable place to run around the university. We ended up finding this quiet hill and devised a plan. I was to sprint up it, with Youngy in tow shouting my split times at me on his bike. I was to do five, all in all; top to bottom was about a minute and I could sit on the bike to get back down. In order to take on the challenge of the fifth sprint you had to complete all previous four in under a minute and then go for gold on the last. I did just that and with my legs and lungs burning, I went for it. Crumpled on all fours on the finish line at the top, I had completed the challenge in 54 seconds and so ‘Harris Hill’ was born. I’m eager to see how the others compare.
Just prior to lunch we were introduced to the media. We pretty much had all the top cricket journalists from all of the newspapers around the country, broadsheet and tabloid. We sat and talked for an hour about various topics and it was just as much about us grilling them as them grilling us. After a quick and, as always, very healthy lunch we were back for another guest chat and we had the great pleasure of having Michael Vaughan come in to talk to us. Michael’s talk was very good and we were able to go through his whole career, highs and lows, and where his cricket has taken him since his retirement.
After that it was yet more skills and fitness work and to round off our final evening in Loughborough the lads saw fit to go and hit the Xbox back at the houses with some Call of Duty and FIFA action. Alex Hales brought his projector up with him so we could play on a big screen and this is something that will definitely be making it’s way abroad with us in order to waste away a few hours when there is time to kill.
Friday November 18
Our final morning in Loughborough and there were only a few loose ends to tie up. After an early strength session followed by some cardio the boys picked up their gear and said their goodbyes to everyone before having a swift lunch and hitting the motorways to get home. I had to hang around a bit longer to talk over some stuff with the physio about what my next 10 days will entail before getting on the plane to South Africa. All in all though, it had been a hugely successful week; I was back running and cycling well and with no pain which is great. I’m pretty much heading to South Africa fully fit which is perfect and exactly what this time in Loughborough was meant to achieve. Now that both sets of guys have gone their separate ways we’re hopeful that we’ll be picked to join up together in January to form the England Lions squad. The squad will be picked by the selectors sometime in December so everyone will be watching intently for any news.
Click here to read week two of James’ blog.