Cricket

Image courtesy of BUSA

Miss Salliann Briggs - Cricket Manager
Email: S.Briggs@lboro.ac.uk Tel: 01509 226102

Graham Dilley - Head Coach
Email: G.R.Dilley@lboro.ac.uk Tel: 01509 226112

Margaret Folwell - Administrator (Cricket)

Key Staff:

Jemima Barnes - Lead Psychologist
Andy Thompson - Strength and Conditioning Coach

Loughborough Cricket Centre of Excellence

At the High Performance level Loughborough UCCE (University Cricket Centre of Excellence) provides students with an environment where those with special cricketing talent and ambitions to play County Cricket can find the very best support, coaching and facilities to develop their sporting careers and ambitions, whilst also realising their full academic potential, in an almost unique sports-oriented education environment.

Head Coach Graham Dilley has Test and County Cricket playing experience and is one of the foremost coaches in the Country, having coached with both the men's and women's full England teams. The Loughborough Centre of Cricket Excellence is managed by Salliann Briggs.

The Loughborough Cricket Centre of Excellence Programme also boasts a full range of Sports Science support, Technical Analysis, Strength, Conditioning & Fitness advice, and Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy services.

Loughborough Students Cricket Club

At the High Performance level Loughborough UCCE (University Cricket Centre of Excellence) For those students to whom Cricket is a sporting passion, rather than a potential professional career, Loughborough offers the best training and playing facilities of any University in the Country, and a range of teams for both male and female students. The Loughborough Students Cricket Club, which is carefully integrated with the Centre of Excellence, caters for the very best student cricketers who are not at County Cricket level. The Clubs teams all operate at the same level as other University 1st teams. In total there are 4 mens teams within the Club, and two womans sides. Because of the scale of winter training facilities, the Club also offers nets to purely recreational cricketers and in womens cricket to absolute beginners. While the teams are picked on merit, training facilities are open to all who want to join the Club. All the Clubs teams are Coached during the training sessions.

Cricket facilities at Loughborough

Both High Performance Cricket students and all Club members have access to the best indoor Cricket training venue in the World - the England National Cricket Academy on the Loughborough University campus. In Summer the University campus has 3 Cricket grounds, two of which are of the very highest standards also hosting County and England age group matches. As well as indoor nets, there are two banks of outdoor practise nets, one grass set and one artificial set. These are in addition to the National Academy nets, which are some of the best training surfaces in the Country.
In all, the Cricket facilities, coaching and playing potential at Loughborough provides the best student environment for Cricket of any University.

Training times & opportunities for players of all levels

All students, irrespective of standard, have opportunities to train and practise Cricket at Loughborough.

The Cricket Centre of Excellence have individualised fitness development and strength & conditioning programmes and train using both the Cricket and other facilities on campus daily. They have priority access to the National Cricket Academy for one-to one nets weekly with Head Coach Graham Dilley, and other times for individual and small group practise. The UCCE has Squad sessions throughout the winter on Wednesday afternoons.

The Womens High Performance Squad also train separately on some Fridays and every Monday afternoon/evening, and these England potential players then help out with the Womens Club and beginners nets on Monday evenings weekly throughout the winter. In Summer, training follows similar patterns when the playing programme permits.
The Loughborough Students Mens Club have priority access to the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. These nets are divided into ability groups, with the best players, some of whom have the potential to rise to Centre of Excellence level and often play County age group cricket, netting on Thursdays. Other Club recreational players (with a separate beginners net) are encouraged to practise on Tuesday evenings. All of these net sessions are run by highly qualified coaches with County playing experience, assisted by apprentice Level 1 & Level 2 coaches from the Cricket Centre of Excellence. Again, Summer nets follow a similar pattern outdoors, when the playing programme permits.

National Standings

Loughborough is widely considered to be the No.1 University Centre for Cricket in the Country. In recent years not only has the Club received First Class playing status from ECB, but they have dominated the various University playing championships.

At County 1st team and First Class level, Loughborough have been beaten only once by a County 1st team in 3-Day matches in the 4 years since the inception of the University Centre of Excellence system.

Loughborough produced a clean sweep of the University Centre of Excellence 2-Day championship and Lords Challenge finals in the first 3 years of the University Championships and were runners-up in 2004.

In the British Universities Championships Loughborough have won the top level BUSA Championship 4 out of the last 5 years, and have won many of the other secondary BUSA trophies. In 2005 Loughborough UCCE and Students Cricket Club won the inaugural BUSA National Premier A League and went on to win the main BUSA Championship trophy. The mens 2nd team also won the BUSA Trophy in which many University 1st teams play. The Loughborough Womens team were also pre-eminent winning their BUSA Championship.

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