“This is a terrific, elite project and one that can hopefully produce some fast bowlers over time. It's a great opportunity for players”

Ashley Giles, FORMER Head of English Cricket (ECB)

What We've Achieved IN THE FIRST 5 YEARS

This is no ordinary programme. We take players from 9 years of age, up to 27 years. They are spread across multiple academies, with fast bowlers in specific academies dependent upon whether they are returning for another year or a new intake. That’s because there is a programme for every academy, specifically written to drive bespoke training. So it’s no surprise the lead coaches Ian Pont & Catherine Dalton, are well-versed in both talent ID and talent development.

This elite fast bowling programme is developed and managed by a team of expert coaches, former & current professionals and highly specialised educators. You will get a massive 40 hours of coach contact time during your Academy over 8 highly-intensive and educational sessions. In addition, you have access to coaching staff outside of these times to support you. The combination of expert staff and world-class facilities results in a cricket academy programme unmatched by any other. The Academy takes you on a personal journey of technical & tactical expertise alongside strong sports psychology mentoring plus fitness programme, which is bespoke for you and designed based on your current fitness levels. Plus, we work with a speed gun to monitor and measure your progression. And we are partnered by Fulltrack AI, meaning your development is analysed every step of the way. Our aim is to get the very best out of you.

• Academy fees £2250 (part & full scholarships available)

• (The academies are separated by age/ability/years attended, so all get the same, superb fast bowling programme.)

NFBA is a world-class fast bowling academy where we get incredible results. That’s why players travelled from Scotland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Hampshire, Somerset, Shropshire, Sussex, Surrey, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Notts, Leicestershire, Cambs, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Northants, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and various outreaches of the UK, with two students joining us from Denmark & Norway respectively, and now Sweden.

We want the very best talent to develop. So you need to make a commitment. That commitment is you want to be the best you can be.

We select attendees based on potential as well as existing talent. And players are offered a place on either the Development or Main Academy, dependent on age/ability of the group. Regardless of which one you are selected on, chosen attendees enjoy a full training clothing package supplied by NFBA. So get ready for a complete S&C programme and a headful of knowledge on how to become an outstanding fast bowler. It is age appropriate and you will get a specific programme bespokely created from your stats in testing. Whilst working on your fitness, you will gain an increase in athletic move and flexibility - all vital aspects for underpinning a fast bowling action. There will be a special app for you and this allows you to have all the answer you want at your fingertips. On the running & sprint sessions, you’ll be introduced to speed mechanics and getting the most from how you move. This impacts on your run up, fielding and running between the wickets. You’ll discover how to cover the ground faster, with less effort.

The academy takes place at The Herts & Essex Cricket Centre (HECC) over an intensive series of 8 Saturday/Holiday and Sunday/Holiday sessions spread across the Winter. Each session is either Weekdays & Sundays 10.30am-4pm or Saturdays 12pm-5.30pm (with breaks for lunch/food/drinks). These get-togethers form the bedrock of your understanding and knowledge. But you will also be doing your own work, in your own time, away from NFBA. And these drills you do outside of NFBA are important because that’s where you add progress to what you learn with us. Your improvement relies on you being a self-starter, with our guidance. So think of NFBA as your ultimate fast bowling library resource, where you will discover EVERYTHING you need to know to be a highly skilled and successful cricketer.

The basis of the programme before Christmas is heavily technical. This is because we need you to understand the fast bowling principles that increase your skill levels. Our focus is always on the technical aspect of how we move as well as making improvements to our effectiveness and efficiency. And this means more speed & accuracy. Once you understand how to assess your OWN action, you’ll be best placed to monitor your tweaks & changes. This is at the heart of why we have so much success - bowlers knowledge on what to do and how to do it. 

The tactical skill levels you learn from us give you the ammunition to take more wickets.  These include slower balls, swing, seam, scramble, wobble, yorkers, bouncers, control over length, other variations, setting up the batter plus much, much more. You’ll also learn how to set the correct fields as well as practice bowling to live batters to see how you get on.

Thanks to our partnership with AI FullTrack we use ‘HawkEye’ like videos that track each ball you bowl on it.  Fulltrack uses advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to analyse your cricket performance. It uses a variety of analytics like 3D ball trajectory, pitch maps, ball-by-ball video organisation, and more. Recorded video and data is then stored in the cloud, making it available to other phones - for other players, coaches, friends and family to view with ease.

Our sports psychology helps you understand how to think in game, how to improve your mental space, getting the most from who you are, understanding how to cope with stress and disappointment and what to do when it doesn’t go as you wish.  And these continue way past the end of the camp dates. We don’t just leave you after we’ve seen you. Our support is for the year. Within each of our groups, you have continued access to coaching help, support & advice. Plus we run ‘Performance Of the Week’ inspirational posts on social media and help promote those who are doing well. As your season goes along we can be there as support should you require any help. Players and parents interact with us and we share in the successes with them.

It truly is a fast bowling family.

Of course, you will need to be able to travel to HERTFORDSHIRE for the NFBA physical coaching dates listed on the trial page. But don’t worry if you cannot make every date. But as you can see, The National Fast Bowling Academy is SO much more than the get-togethers!

Our reputation is exceptional and we need to produce exceptional talent. We recommend players to T20 franchises, first class teams, county age groups, elite school programmes plus help create opportunities at all levels across white ball and red ball cricket. It’s why we are the very best at what we do.

But first you have to be selected. And this is done by TRIAL only. If you want to have the opportunity to be part of the NFBA please visit our Trial page.

The trials are for an hour with Ian Pont & Catherine Dalton, our two main coaches, running them personally. So you will get to meet Ian & Cath. The format is a warm up and general bowl, before the speed test on the Pocket Radar Pro Speed Gun and Display, followed by a small coaching session on a chosen variation two see how you interact with the coaches and take on new information. You can book your chance now by going to Trial page.