Iain Brunnschweiler is on tour with the England Under 19 side Sri Lanka. Here's his diary: It's a mixture of great stories and lessons for players and coaches at any level.

Day 1

It’s always a very exciting moment when I meet up with the squad, and it was no different this time as we gathered at Heathrow Airport ready for another sub-continental adventure. There’s one thing I can always be sure about 18 and 19 year old lads: they love stash! It was no different this time, with the players absolutely loving their branded-up England trackies and kit bags.

The most note-worthy moment of our journey out to Sri Lanka, (other than Dan Lawrence’s dress sense once he had got into his pyjamas on the plane!), was me watching a film called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller. This movie reminded me that life is there to be enjoyed every day, and that going on adventures which take you out of your comfort zone can inspire your mind and body.

This wasn't just entertainment. As a coach I use sources like this to make me consider the next way I can have an impact on player development. It could be be watching a movie, speaking to people who may challenge my thinking, or exposing myself to different environments both inside or outside of sport. It all works to broaden my mind.

Days 2 and 3

Whenever we travel across time zones with a squad, we follow an acclimatisation programme, which has been designed by our vastly experienced physio, Steve McCaig (Macca or "The Bear" as he is known to the staff).

One of the simple things Macca has learned over the years, is that ‘us coaches’ will always want to do more training than the boys need during the first couple of days on tour. When you are in a country with a totally different climate, it is vital that both players and staff don’t go too hard too soon. Otherwise, there is the danger of early burnout, especially while trying to change your body clock and adapt to the local time zones.

Sleep is clearly a vital part of this acclimatisation, and at least half of the squad and some of the staff wear wristbands that monitor their movement both during the day and at night. It has been quite entertaining as those of us who are more interested in the science of our bodies (the ‘badgers’!) have been comparing our sleep monitors each morning. One lad had a cumulative total of 10 hours sleep across three nights. Fortunately we can use this kind of information to make adaptions to player programmes to ensure that everyone gets the right volume of work and rest.

Day 4

Our first scheduled practice was cancelled due to the monsoon-like rainfall in Colombo, but today the sun was out in a vengeance. In my experience of Sri Lanka, when it is hot, it is seriously hot.

We made our way to the Premedasa Stadium for a proper high intensity training session, following our gradual increase of the last couple of days. The quick bowlers were coming in off their full runs for the first time outside, under the guidance of bowling coach, Stuart Barnes. This obviously made Barnesy and the whole fast bowling unit happy for the first time since we left the UK, as they were able to enter into top-level competition in the nets with our batters.

During our final training camp back in the UK, at the fantastic National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, Barnesy tracked the player’s line, length trajectories and speeds. He was able to present information around the lines and lengths that are the most successful in Sri Lanka, and then allow the lads to have a competition to see who could reproduce these lengths the most.

Having the ability to track data like this is incredibly useful for player development, as well as performance preparation. If you clearly know what your objectives are, and you can measure a player’s ability to achieve those objectives, then you can help to build a really information plan to ensure they are progressing with their skills.

Day 5

Our first match day, and a 50-over game against a Sri Lankan Board XI. It turned out that there were several familiar faces in the opposition, as we had played against them in home and away England Development Programme U17 series in 2013 and 2014.

One of the best things about cricket, is the ability to make friends around the globe, and to be able to speak a communal language of sport. Coaching the Sri Lankan side was Roger Wijesuriya, who had run the U17 team previously, so it was fantastic for me to be able to re-ignite our friendship, along with other members of the coaching staff.

On the Sri Lankan team there were names such as Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Kavin Bandara, Raveen Seyer and Thilan Nimesh; names that many of you will not have heard of, but you may wish to commit to memory! I’m confident that some of these names, as well as many of the players in the current England U19 team will be pitting their wits against each other at full international level in the coming years.

We scored 230, with George Bartlett from Somerset scoring a magnificent 94, having come in with us struggling at 36-4. This was a decent total, and the lads were fired up to get out and defend it, before a huge lightning storm engulfed the stadium, putting an end to any hopes of us even bowling a ball.

Once it was confirmed that there was no chance of play, all of the players hit the gym to complete their conditioning programmes.

It was a shame we couldn’t complete the match, but there was plenty to learn.

The players, under the guidance of captain Brad Taylor (Hampshire), had a very productive debrief with each other to reflect on the batting innings. This groups growing ability to review their performances in matches and training, will, I am sure help them to improve as both individuals and a team.