It’s report writing time of year, before the pupils at Millfield School depart for cricket fields all over the country for nine weeks of runs, wickets, catches and stumpings.

Whilst the report writing process can be a little laborious at times, we have decided to use it as a self-awareness builder for the cricketing pupils.

Inspired by Alfred Nobel, we have asked each of the players to write their own report and then to compare it to the report that is written by their coach.

Back in 1888 Alfred’s brother Ludvig died and a French newspaper mistakenly published Alfred’s obituary. It condemned Alfred for his invention of dynamite the obituary went on to say, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

Nobel was disappointed with what he read and concerned with how he would be remembered. Because of this “awakening” Nobel rewrote his will and testament which established five Nobel Prizes after his death in 1895. The most well-known being the Nobel Peace Prize.

We gave each player an hour to come up with his or her own report for the year. 1050 Characters which could include statistics, observations, references to performance and recognition of attitude and commitment in their writing and assign an effort score from one (good) to five (terrible!).

Here is one of the examples of the players work:

Effort: 1

Max has begun to take wickets and is able to bowl long spells this year. His action, when correct is encouraging but at the moment the consistency of repeating his ideal action is letting him down.

He is beginning to achieve some great things. He has earned his debut in the Meyers XI in the National T20 and hopes to play some more games in the near future. He is also making his way into the ECB South West side. Although he still believes that his greatest achievement of the summer so far is winning house cricket for the Great house.

His batting has also progressed and he been able to bat at a higher scoring rate for longer periods of time. He is most comfortable against the spinners, but needs to work on his shot selection outside off stump.

In fielding he can be one of the best in the side however needs to remain calm and remember to take one thing at a time when looking to get a run out or taking simple catches. He makes too many basic errors. He has captained the side well and sets decent fields most of the time, but really needs to win the toss more often.

My report:

Effort: 1

Max has moved on well as an all round cricketer.

He is becoming more and more consistent as a bowler and as a result is able to build pressure on good batters over longer periods of time. There is still some work to do to fully embed his front arm and upright posture at point of release.

As a batter, Max has moved on hugely. In 2016, Max was a developing batter who underachieved (averaging 9.46) whereas his 2017 season has included unbeaten 50’s and an average of 43.75. The significant upturn is purely down to an insatiable work ethic and clarity about areas of his game that need development.

Max makes too many mistakes in the field. He rushes his thinking and then his body movements when receiving an incoming catch and when picking the ball up for a potential run out. Fast feet creates time when it comes to presenting our hands to the ball. Baseball fielders seem to take an eternity to pick the ball up but rarely make errors in their execution of their skills. Max needs to slow down his thinking when fielding to enhance his chance completion stats.

A top year from Max.

We seem to be on the same page. Max is very aware of his personal strengths and weaknesses and this is seen in the transformation of his batting fortunes from 2016 to 2017.

What we also see is a lad who has a quirky sense of humour. That humour has been crucial during Max’s tenure as captain. He is a fantastic leader who has turned his team from an OK side into one that plays some incredibly exciting cricket.

Have a go at the “Nobel exercise” if you are a player and then ask your coach to do the same. Compare and contrast your views. It will open up some incredible conversations and may lead you towards attacking a development area that would not have been identified in a normal assessment or planning process.