Despite structural changes at Kent Cricket in recent weeks, Academy Director Simon Willis is confident about the future.

Paul Farbrace left his position as Director of Cricket after two years in charge of the side leaving a gap in the coaching structure, with Willis telling Kent Sports News that it is down to a number of people to keep the club running until a successor for Farbrace is found:

“To be fair, we are working it through together, that’s Jamie (Clifford), Graham Johnson, Rob Key, myself and Phil Relf. Between us we are managing it until the club come up with a clear direction on the way forward.”

Willis worked alongside Farbrace for the past few years and admitted it was a bit of a shock to see him leave:

“From a contractual point of view Farbs still had a year to go, so everyone was surprised, but that decision has been made and both parties came out and gave their reasons. We have got to move on now though and start planning for the future.”

With Farbrace gone, Willis told KSN how it was a team effort to ensure players left for the winter with a focus on where the club wants to go come the spring:

“It’s a team effort and Keysey as captain has had a massive input into that. All of the support staff are involved as we try to work out with the individuals what they are trying to achieve and put in place development plans.”

“Quite a large majority of the guys will be overseas this winter, with those left in the UK will be at university or based at Canterbury.”

Willis also backs the idea that if players are in the country the club should be supporting the system employed in football where players spend some time training as a group even out of the competitive season:

“I think you have got to look at it based on your squad. Every county is going to be different. For those guys that are in the UK, I think it is imperative that you have them under your wing for as long as you possibly can.”

“It is important that players use the support staff that we have in place, so it’s not all last minute come February or March.”

As for those heading overseas, Willis is comfortable that the younger members of the squad will benefit from time in another country learning from the best out there:

“We are hopefully sending them to people that we know well, particularly in Perth where a few guys are working with Neil ‘Noddy’ Holder. He has done a lot of work with players over the years including back to Rob Key’s early days.”

“We will get information back, but ultimately it is down to the players to be responsible for their own development. It would be disappointing if guys came back from a winter overseas not in decent physical condition, but I think the characters we’ve got nowadays on the staff they realise they have got to make the most of their time and I’m sure they’ll all do that this winter.”

Since the end of the season, three players have stepped up from the Academy to secure their first professional contracts at Kent. Fabian Cowdrey, Ivan Thomas and Benedict Kemp have to earnt deals on the playing staff and Willis feels it is a big year ahead for the trio:

“Fabian, Ivan and Ben are three young lads that have come on. They have now got a transition period from being an academy player to being a professional. That comes down to hard work, commitment and it will be full-time cricket rather than just two or three days a week.”

“The quicker they can come to terms with that, the better chance they have got of performing on the field.”

“We’ve now got a younger group of players on the academy, so over the next few years I’d be surprised if there were too many more coming through, although I hope one or two surprise me.”

“It’s a younger group and we’ll have to have a bit more patience over the next few years.”

“Over the past two or three years we have had quite a few come onto the staff and it is now down to those guys to take their opportunity and not just think that the professional contract is it.”

“It’s just the first rung on the ladder and the guys have got to work hard and hopefully they’ll have a long career in the game.”

One former Academy product that has left Kent in recent weeks is opening batsman Joe Denly and Willis admitted he was sad to see him leave:

“I was sad from a selfish point of view. Joe’s come through the system from a very young age and performed at the highest level, but from Joe’s perspective I can understand his reasons, because at the end of the day it is his career and he only gets one shot at it.”

“He’s got to make decisions that he feels is going to benefit his career in both the short but long term.”

Log onto www.kentsportsnews.com in the coming weeks as we keep tabs on how the players are progressing throughout the winter months.

Picture supplied by Sarah Ansell. To see more of Sarah’s pictures visit www.sarahcanterbury.com