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Thursday, 22 July 2010
Dominic Cork took time out from captaining Hampshire and the
commentator's box to visit Bolton School and offer his coaching
tips, enthusiasm and wisdom to boys and girls taking part in the
Andrew Flintoff Cricket Academy.
The 38 year old former England international all-rounder paid a
flying visit to the School and was quickly in the nets dispensing
batting and bowling tips to the youngsters. He then held a
questions and answers session with the participants before signing
autographs and chatting further to the children.
The local boys and girls, aged 5-16 and of all levels of
ability, have been enjoying a fantastic opportunity to learn
cricket the Andrew Flintoff way as they took part in his one-week
Cricket Academy at the School. The week is one of several academies
taking place across the UK. "Freddie" has had real input into
the week-long course, which is made up of lots of cricket, Freddie
Challenges, swimming sessions and mini-tournaments, with a number
of prizes and awards being given out. The aim of the
academies is to inspire an early interest in cricket.
During the questions and answers session, Cork talked candidly
about his career, saying he had started playing cricket aged 7 and
although he had initially wanted to be a truck driver, he changed
his mind when he saw Ian Botham in action in 1981. Ever since
that moment, he wanted to become an all rounder and he cited Botham
and Flintoff as his two cricketing heroes. In terms of the
toughest opposition, it had to be Australia and his toughest
opponent had been the Australian captain, Steve Waugh. When
asked who were the best batters he had faced, he said there were
four: Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Steve
Waugh. Cork said his career had probably peaked in 1995 when
he was called up for the England team for the first time for the
test series against the West Indies. On his debut at Lord's
he secured an impressive 7 for 43 haul and later in the same series
recorded a hat trick at Old Trafford. This was then followed
by an enjoyable tour to South Africa. He was also very proud
to have captained Derbyshire for 5 years, Lancashire on occasion
during his two years there and now Hampshire. He had been
disappointed to leave Lancashire in 2008, having really enjoyed his
time there with both players and fans.
Cork's favourite ground is Lords, which he said is a truly
inspiring venue but this was closely followed by the ground in Cape
Town, which was in such a wonderful setting. The most
enjoyable game in Dominic's career had been last year when he had
captained Hampshire to victory in the Friends Provident Trophy as
they overcame Sussex by 6 wickets. A victory made all the
more enjoyable as Sussex had beaten Lancashire in a final a couple
of years earlier when he had been playing for them. When
asked if he would prefer to score 100 runs or take 5 wickets, he
answered that ideally you would do both in a game but if you could
only have one, he believes taking 5 wickets is harder. He
estimated that he had knocked 150-200 sixes in his 19 year
career. He becomes 39 years of age in a couple of weeks.
The one piece of advice that Cork gave was to enjoy the
game. He warned the boys that there will be plenty of lows in
the game - when you can't get a wicket, you are out for a duck or
you drop a catch - but he told them to try and keep a smile on your
face and to look to help your team mates when they are having a
hard time. He felt lucky even now that he could get out of
bed every morning and do something that he really enjoys
doing. As for a bowling tip, he said the best you can aim for
is to maintain a constant length and line and then see what comes
after that. He said he had been a medium to fast bowler, with
an average bowling speed of about 85mph, which was just a bit
slower than Flintoff's.
Approximately half of the course participants were boys from
Bolton School, particularly from the Junior School. A Year 7
pupil at the School said: "This academy has been excellent - lots
of fun and I've also learnt all sorts of new tricks and techniques
that I will be able to use in School cricket."
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