THE initiative that Somerset CCC introduced last year to increase the amount of cricket coaching available to Pathway players who attend state schools has been hailed as a great success.

Matt Drakeley, the head of Talent Pathway at SCCC, said: “We have just come to the end of the winter programme element which has seen us deliver more than 200 hours of coaching to around 200 state school players within our Pathway and beyond.

“State School Lead Coach Thom Bunker has led the project brilliantly and he’s got a good group of young coaches working with him. He’s done such a brilliant job of delivering those sessions and implementing the initiative and he deserves a lot of credit.

“The feedback from parents and players alike has been positive in terms of both the opportunities they’ve received and the experience they’re getting as part of that process as well.

“We’ve now signed an official partnership with Weston College which has seen us invest some money into their facility as part of the project and that has now become the official home of the initiative. It’s a partnership that has gone extremely well so far and it’s one we are sure will continue to flourish.”

Matt went onto talk about what the summer element of the programme will consist of.

“The summer programme has just begun, and we’ve got comprehensive training and match-play elements in place, and we will be accommodated through the summer by Hunstspill Cricket Club and Uphill Castle Cricket Club who have offered us the use of their facilities.”