Former White Fern Kate Ebrahim (70 ODIs and T20Is for NZ) coached the St Hilda’s Collegiate School 1st XI from 2020 to 2023. Kate coaches cricket with the same energy, passion and commitment she showed as a player. She is also a perceptive analyst of the game, a realist and one fully into the psyche and priorities of her youngsters. She is the first to acknowledge the chaotic nature of their world at times and hence the need for patience when working with them.
Through a busy match schedule Kate wanted to generate “fun, enjoyment and memories” for them. She worked on each girl’s individuality and encouraged all to thrive in the team space. She wanted to develop:
No. 1 – Curiosity – to ask questions, whenever and wherever
No. 2 – Competitive mindset – eg. to be the girl to score the match-changing runs, or to take the match-changing wickets, catches, etc.
No. 3 – The three Bs – be Brilliant at the Boring Basics! ie. to work at the basic fundamentals of the game.
At the 2023 match at The Willows, Kate left the following whiteboard message for her team. It is classic. Clearly, advice which should be replicated by every coach, the length of the country, when working with young people (and the not so young for that matter!).
St Hilda’s v CGHS
- Have fun, laugh and enjoy
- Embrace the moments
- Every ball is an event
Bowling
- Full and straight
- 3 dot-ball strings (x15)
- 30 overs, 6 overs per bowler
Batting
- Bat full 30 overs
- Looking to score off each ball
- Communication – what they bowl, who can throw
We asked Kate to expand on the whiteboard message. She first provided this preamble:
“You’ll notice on my whiteboard it’s only a couple of key words under each sub-title. We have discussed these measurables a lot during training. Therefore, important when it comes to game time, what they hear is nothing new or a surprise, only small reminders are used so they don’t get overwhelmed or mind cluttered before the match. Keep it simple!”
General
Have fun, laugh and enjoy – enjoy each other’s company and success.
Embrace the moments – Willows fixtures do not happen for all schools. Therefore, I want the girls to embrace the moments, the people, the surroundings and even the changing rooms, which are filled with history and stories!
Every ball is an event – this is a trigger tool. Learning how to switch-on, switch-off between balls while fielding. Wanting the ball to come to you every time. Trying to create an understanding that everyone is involved in every ball bowled during the innings.
Bowling
Full and straight – bowl the ball full, bowl the ball straight to bring in as many modes of dismissal as possible. Set your field accordingly.
30 Overs, 6 over per bowler – this was again a simple reminder as our girls never play 30 over cricket.
3 dot-ball strings (x15) – As a bowling unit I’ve always coached the how! We hear too often from coaches.. “if we create pressure wickets will come, opportunities will come...” We need to teach/coach/help with the how! Therefore, this Willows match I challenged the girls to bowl 3 dot balls strings (3 dot balls in a row) 15 times!, which is 45 dot balls! This is one way to keep them engaged as fielders, supporting the bowling, working together to achieve such a simple goal within the game and of course dot balls creates pressure as a batter. A simple way to keep building their game awareness.
Batting
Bat full 30 overs – getting the girls to understand that if they bat the full 30 overs, they will face 180 balls. We talk about a run a ball.
Looking/wanting to score off each ball – work our way down from either scoring a 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 off each ball. This is to create intent and energy into our batting innings. And being OK within yourself if you do only score 1 run off a ball, it is still 1 run contributing to the overall total. We always talk about scoring off 180 balls. So that would be doing a 6 RPO, which can be done in many different ways. 6 runs, could simply be a boundary and 2 singles, or three 2s. Creating deeper thinkers of the game is part of my coaching toolbox as well.
Communication – what they bowl, what fielders have good arms, how far the keeper stands back, wind direction, outfield slopes, etc.