ECB fast bowling lead coach Kevin Shine says Worcestershire paceman George Scrimshaw is amongst those who will benefit from working alongside more experience bowlers as part of the ECB Page Programme this winter.
Scrimshaw has linked up at the ECB’s Performance Centre at Loughborough this week with seven other seamers on the Pace Programme ahead of a training camp later this month at Desert Springs in Spain.
After making his County debut in the T20 Blast last summer, it is another opportunity for Scrimshaw to learn and develop his game with some of the other up and coming young English talent.
But also part of the Pace Programme are Reece Topley, Jamie Overton, Jamie Porter and now Toby Roland-Jones who is continuing his recovery from the stress fracture in his lower back which ended his Ashes dreams.
Shine said: “We’ve got a great balance this winter. There’s a quartet of lads with experience in Reece Topley, Jamie Overton, Jamie Porter and now Toby, who was first with us on the Programme as a young lad six or seven years ago.
“They’ve got so much to share with the younger guys – Tom Barber, Zak Chappell, George Scrimshaw and Paul Walter – which all goes to show the quality and strength in depth we have in our fast-bowling ranks.
“The lads have been working hard in Loughborough and with their counties, and the chance to get outside and hopefully a bit of sun on our backs at Desert Springs will come at just the right time.”
Topley, Overton and Porter are also on the comeback trail with the latter suffering a partial stress fracture in his lower back and the other two sustaining recurrent back injuries.
Scrimshaw himself made a successful return to action with the County this summer after suffering a stress fracture in the back before aggravating it towards the end of the campaign.
Shine said: “Unfortunately, fast bowling is always going to be a brutal business. That’s one of the reasons we have the Pace Programme. The aim is to reinforce the physical and technical foundations required for international fast bowling.
“In the 10 or 12 years since we started it, the programme has evolved to develop the athleticism of our talented bowlers.
“There’s been a growing focus on things like running technique, movement patterns, mobility, co-ordination and agility and, of course, we also work on the craft and skills of fast bowling, as well as the technical areas surrounding pace.
“This year the guys have been able to do more bowling before Christmas, on the back of some new research suggesting a complete shut down from bowling for long periods of time increases injury risk.
“Also, we want to ensure that their bodies adapt to bowling after they have trained. So after a heavy training session, they bowl – this tells their bodies that these are the movement patterns they are training for.”
