Australian coaches to undergo US stint

Cricket Australia announced on Wednesday that a selection of the country's elite and upcoming coaches will head to the United States at the end of June to take part in a study tour aimed at developing Australia's leading coaches.

The study tour is aimed at giving participants the opportunity to experience various elite performance environments, including professional sports, colleges, and media institutions, with a particular focus on next practice and what it takes to create a culture of excellence.

A number of internationally acclaimed organisations will be engaged during the tour including the San Francisco Giants, ESPN, Google, Apple, Facebook and several high profile universities.

Cricket Australia's executive general manager (team performance) Pat Howard said it was important for Australian cricket to invest in the professional development of current elite coaches as well as those coaches coming through the pathway system.

"This program represents a significant piece of the overall Elite Coach Program in place for the year. All those selected for this tour are currently working across Australian cricket and have been identified as future national coaches," Howard was quoted as saying in a statement.

"It's about seeing what works well in other elite environments. This trip provides a great opportunity to look outside the box and expand our thinking in a number of areas," he added.

Attendees on the study tour will be former international players Justin Langer, Greg Blewett, Adam Griffith, Graeme Hick, Matthew Mott, Phil Jaques, Ryan Harris and David Hussey.

Both Brad Hodge and Mike Hussey were not available due to commitments with the Caribbean Premier League. A panel of high performance staff were consulted on the selection of participants.

--IANS

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