Playing
experience acquired in the West of England Premier League is filtering
down to youngsters in Somerset and Bristol Schools.
Head
groundsman at Wells Cathedral School Craig Keast is a
leg-spinner for league side Street and is also an ECB level II coach.
He assists with the coaching of the school’s first XI and under15s.
Wells
have recently taken delivery of a new BOLA ‘Professional’
machine but they are long-time BOLA users and their new purchase is a
replacement for a machines they bought 21 years ago.
Master in Charge of Cricket is Robbie Newman who was a Warwickshire Academy
player and is now a leg-cutter bowler for Minor Counties side Devon.
Wells is one of five specialist music schools in the
country and was founded in 909 making it the fourth oldest school in Britain.
Cricket facilities in Bristol schools have also enjoyed a tremendous fillip
in recent years. Both Ashton Park Sports College and
Cotham School have aquired purpose built sports halls
and this year both establishments purchased BOLA machines.
At Ashton Park Neil Moon, Master in charge of Cricket, is delighted with
his new machine. "The BOLA is fantastic for creating interest amongst
the boys. It really has opened their eyes to cricket and the interesting
thing is that it has attracted new pupils to the sport."
Neil attended a course in bowling machine management at a local school
and now incorporates the BOLA in his P.E. lessons. “Pupils use the
machine for their GCSE assessments (which are part of the Sports Science
‘A’ level) to demonstrate their skills,” he said.
Cotham School unveiled their new sports hall last winter and Head of Cricket
James Brown is an enthusiastic BOLA user. “We run under13 and under15
sides in the Bristol Schools League and all the kids love the machine.
It has generated a lot of interest and I think the automatic feed is an
excellent tool."
James has great personal experience of using BOLA machines because he
was the captain of a very successful Bath C.C. in 2006. They were victorious
in the West of England Premier League and Neil was named 'Player of the
Year’.
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