Coaches who see the bigger picture can help players realise their potential
WHAT does a head coach do when a young batsman of proven ability and massive potential suffers a loss of form stretching over several games?
It is a problem that exercised the mind of Somerset’s Jason Kerr as he pondered team selection for the County Championship match against Hampshire at Taunton, starting today.
Tom Lammonby enjoyed a thrilling breakthrough season last year, averaging 51 in the Bob Willis Trophy, with three centuries in six games, and 40.33 in the Vitality Blast, with a strike rate of 177.94.
Then only 20, the Devonian lefthander carried all before him with some brilliant performances that underlined his huge promise and suggested an immensely bright future.
But this season has been a totally different story. Despite a temporary resurgence with 70 not out against Leicestershire, Lammonby has managed only 38 runs in his ten other innings, which have included five ducks.
Kerr’s initial gut-feeling was to stick with the talented youngster, confident that the old saying ‘form is temporary and class permanent’ would apply.
That changed this week after a heart-to-heart chat and Lammonby will not be involved in the Hampshire game.
“Tom is an incredible player and character, but when loss of form starts to affect someone as a person it is time it is time to take him out of the environment,” Kerr told me.
“I had a really open conversation with Tom and asked him some difficult questions. That gave me a feel for where he was as a human being, which is even more important than as a cricketer.
“We have given Tom a week off to forget about cricket and spend some time with his family and friends. He has shown enough already to convince us that he is going to be a high-class player and we will put him back in the side when the time is right.
“Most batsmen go through the sort of spell he has endured this season. While it is horrible to watch, Tom will emerge a stronger person and a better cricketer.”
Cricket, more than any other sport, can play havoc with the mind, as has been indicated by the number of players, such as Marcus Trescothick, to suffer from stressrelated illnesses.
It falls to coaches like Kerr to protect the mental health, as well as the physical well-being, of emerging youngsters by not expecting too much too soon.
With no overseas batsman in the Championship side this summer, there was always going to be a greater spotlight on the likes of Lammonby, Tom Banton, George Bartlett and Eddie Byrom.
Banton, another top-class prospect, has also struggled at the top of the order and was left out of the last two games, with an average of only 14.5 in eight innings. He is set to return to the team today in a middle order role, which Kerr hopes will eliminate the pressure of facing the new ball.
Experienced wicketkeeper Steve Davies looks likely to move up to open the batting with Byrom, who shaped well when scoring 38 in the rain-ruined game with Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Somerset will be boosted having supporters inside the Cooper Associates County Ground for the first time this season.
» Graeme van Buuren is awaiting the telephone call that will mean life returning to normal after the most frustrating of seasons.
The popular Gloucestershire allrounder expects to be missing from the team for the visit to Leicestershire, starting today, the sixth successive County Championship game he must sit out through no fault of his own. And that after scoring a match-winning 110 not out in the opening Group Two match against Surrey at The Oval in April.
In his previous five summers with Gloucestershire, 30-year-old van Buuren has qualified as a nonoverseas player because his wife Hannah is a British citizen with a UK passport.
But changes in the regulations following Brexit removed that qualification and, due to an administrative backlog caused by Covid-19, Graeme has been waiting since March for his application for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in this country to be processed.
He was able to play in the opening two Championship games this season as an overseas player.
But only two can be fielded by any county in the same match and once Dan Worrall and Kraigg Brathwaite arrived to take their places in the Gloucestershire side, Graeme had to be left out.
Since then, the South Africa born batsman and left-arm spinner has been filling his time by playing second XI cricket and for Chippenham in the West of England Premier League.
There have also been opportunities to complete a BSc degree in Sport and Business Management and take part in a Level 3 coaching course. For all that, Graeme is itching to return to Gloucestershire’s quest for a first ever County Championship title.
He told me: “I had a meeting with our local MP on Friday and he was very helpful. We are trying to track down my application and it could be dealt with any day now. As soon as I receive a call saying that is the case, I will be able to crack on and play first team cricket for Gloucestershire again.
“Because of Covid, there has been no one in the relevant offices and a priority service people like me could use by paying a bit extra has not been available. A massive backlog of applications has built up and they are taking a long time to clear. It has been frustrating because over the last three years I have played in a lot of games for Gloucestershire, building up confidence and contributing more to the team. I love Bristol, my two children James and Kate were born here, and my wife has a very good job at Bath University, so we are very settled as a family.
“Since I first came to England, I have only been back to South Africa on minimal occasions and, having lived over here for more than the required five years, I feel like an adopted Bristolian.”
Graeme’s early progress as a Gloucestershire player was interrupted by three serious injuries – a side strain, a broken wrist and a hamstring torn off the bone, which involved an eight-month recovery period. But he was voted Player-ofthe-Year by his team-mates last season after topping the batting averages in the Bob Willis Trophy and taking 12 wickets in the Vitality Blast, and is currently in talks over a new contract.
Very much a team-man and always a pleasure to interview, Graeme will be welcomed back by team-mates and supporters alike when that phone call finally arrives.