PUBLISHED 17 December 2020
There is a renewed enthusiasm for Cricket at AKS Lytham, with the sport on the rise for boys and girls of all ages. AKS have been selected by Lancashire Cricket to host their new Regional Development Centre programme over the winter from 2021. Players from beginner through to County age group will have the chance to learn from Lancashire County coaches. Players will be taught how to play ‘The Lancashire Way’ over the 4 month programme to be held at the schools’ state of the art facilities which include 6 indoor lanes across 2 sports halls, 4 outdoor lanes, 3 grass centre wickets and 3 BOLA bowling machines.
AKS has launched a reinvigorated cricket programme, starting with a winter programme comprising targeted specialist training sessions and competing in County Indoor Cricket Competitions. Players then move outdoor in the summer, playing a strong fixture list including the MCC, Manchester Grammar, Merchant Taylors and Giggleswick School. AKS also competes in age group County Competitions as well as playing host to the Wyre/ Fylde and National Schools Twenty20 Cup competitions.
The AKS Preparatory School offers a great grounding in the sport, with all students learning the basic skills with soft balls in their PE/ games lessons along with many extracurricular opportunities to enjoy cricket at lunchtime and after school clubs across the year. This culminates with local competitions and festivals in the summer term in partnership with the Lancashire Cricket Foundation and the Wyre & Fylde School Sports Partnership.
Development of girls cricket is a high priority at AKS, with large regular attendances at clubs, where girls learn the game in a fun and supportive environment. The girls also saw success earlier this year, winning their region and contesting the County cup.
AKS Cricket has launched summer cricket camps for 2021 in partnership with St Anne’s Cricket Club, which will be available to cricketers across the community. AKS Cricket is also planning future tours to accelerate the development of players.
The AKS Enhanced Sports Performance Programme has been launched to give all student-athletes the opportunity to learn from the best. AKS athletes learn skills from elite performers in areas of elite performance including goal setting, psychology, nutrition, injury prevention and recovery.
A recent arrival to the AKS team has been Cricket Australia Level 3 High Performance Coach (ECB Level 4) Liam Castellas as Head of Cricket. Having previously overseen High Performance programmes with Cricket Victoria, Myerscough College and Lancashire Thunder, Castellas brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to drive the programme. Working with an established team of coaches at AKS, Castellas said “there are many exciting developments in AKS Cricket at the moment with many more to come. There is a real buzz about cricket – it’s very exciting!”
Speaking about the Lancashire Cricket partnership, Castellas said “We are extremely pleased that Lancashire Cricket has chosen to base their Regional Development Centre here at our facilities. It’s testament to our facilities and the prominence of the Cricket Programme here at AKS”
Players wishing to find out more information about Lancashire Cricket’s Regional Development Centres can visit: https://foundation.lancashirecricket.co.uk/lancashire-cricket-regional-development-centres/