With Derbyshire’s players set to return to training next week, we caught up with Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jonty Norris, about what their schedule will look like.
The majority of the squad will begin fitness work at The Pattonair County Ground on Wednesday, with Norris and Lead Physiotherapist Fran Clarkson taking the sessions before Christmas.
Speed will be the main focus of the training regime, before the players get back into cricket practice in January, and Norris is eager to see how the work benefits the side.
“In the first phase of this build-up to Christmas, the players will be purely with myself and Fran,” said Norris.
“We will start off with normal testing, just to see how the guys have got on in their time off, and then we have a strength and conditioning block towards Christmas.
“This year, we are working on speed to try to improve our fielding ability a little bit. Then we can prepare ourselves for cricket in the new year.”
“We use this time to work out our main targets and focusses in this build-up,” Norris added.
“Cricket is unlike other sports, in that we get a window where we can work on specific things without too much going on.
“It will be almost like a ‘speed camp’, where we can see how quick we can get the players in six weeks, so that we are ready to go into a normal schedule from January onwards. “
Luis Reece, Matt Critchley, Mattie McKiernan and Fynn Hudson-Prentice are all currently playing cricket abroad, while Billy Godleman is set to be part of the MCC’s squad for the Legacy Tour of Nepal.
Norris says that coaches will keep tabs on the players’ workload throughout the winter, as they prepare to return to cricket work with Derbyshire in the new year.
“I stay in regular contact with all the guys that are away, every week I will speak to them and get a handle on what they are doing,” Norris said.
“We try not to be overly-prescriptive about what they are going to do, because generally they aren’t going to have a schedule that will be as heavy as a regular first-class season.
“It is more about making sure that the players abroad are getting the same fundamentals as the ones who are with us in Derby.
“We will continue to check in with them on gym programmes and things like that, so that they can come back in good shape for the start of next season.”
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