Trevor outlines overseas training camp

A group of 11 Western Storm players will be heading to the UAE in the next few days to take part in a special training camp.

Before they departed, we caught up with Head Coach, Trevor Griffin to discuss the purpose of the trip.

“We’ve arranged this training camp to give the players the opportunity to get time on the grass and to focus our training on the key areas that we’ve identified so that we are ready for the season ahead,” he explained. “The UK winters are long, and everyone is desperate to get outside and play on some grass.

“As coaches we try to be as creative as possible to keep training as fresh and interesting as it can be for the players, but there’s simply no substitute for being able to get outside. We are fortunate enough to have access to great facilities at Somerset, Gloucestershire and Glamorgan, but there are certain variables that you just can’t replicate indoors.

“It’s an important part of player development that they are exposed to different surfaces and different conditions. We need to raise the players awareness of what the game might need of them in certain situations, for example how different pitches can influence the lengths they bowl or how they should bat on it. Exposing them to a different environment like this gives us this opportunity to explore more than just being on grass in the warm weather.

“Last year I don’t think we actually got out on grass until a few days before our first game because the weather was so poor. We only managed to get one practice game in last season, so a lot of the players were under-cooked in terms of playing on grass. Whilst going overseas is a nice thing to do, it has to add value and set us up to hit the ground running come the start of the season.”