No England U17 team planned, says ECB. So what is happening instead?

In a recent article I questioned the risk/benefits of reintroducing an England U17 programme, a recommendation of Andrew Strauss’s High Performance Review. Issues of growth & maturation bias, return on investment and alternative options such as an U19 Futures team were discussed.

The article was prompted by what I, mistakenly, described as recent ‘trial’ matches played at Loughborough for mainly U15 & U16 players as part of the Young Lions programme. 

David Court, Men’s Player Identification and Talent Pathway Lead at the ECB has provided this clarification;

‘While the High-Performance Review did advise the re-introduction of U17s there is no plan to implement this currently. We continue to use regional and invitation games to keep the net wide, observe players playing against their peers providing them with an opportunity to benchmark themselves and inspire them to want to play for England.’

So these invitational matches are designed to provide benefits for players and the ECB, occurring between the existing regional matches at U15 (Bunbury) and U18 (Super 4s). The objectives are to:

1. Benchmark players against peers 
2. Allow players to benchmark themselves against peers
3. Inspire them to want to play for England
4. Keep the net wide
5. Provide ‘England pathway’ events for players either too old/not selected for Bunbury (U15) or too young/not selected for Super 4s (U18). 

Whilst these objectives are highly commendable will growth & maturation issues distort the benchmarking process as they have historically at U15 through to U19? We know Relative Age Effect (RAE) is significant at these age groups. We suspect maturation selection bias is also strong, with competition level effects (i.e. national level in this case) compounding both of these two constructs, RAE & maturation.

What is being done to address Relative Age Effect & maturation issues?

Relative Age Effect

The ECB have begun some research into the effectiveness of using age ordered bibs in relation to RAE this year. Four counties are on board, using it throughout their selection process and it is hoped to compare the numbers to their previous years data and in comparison to the rest of the country. This is massively encouraging.

Double or triple age groups can influence RAE and ECB are conscious of the gap between regional competition at U15 and U18, so more of a balance is sought.

‘… with Super 4s we try not to put a firm age group around it. We attempt to use a mixture of U16’s (n=6), U17’s (n=26) and U18’s (n=16) during the competition.’ David Court

This years Super 4s (U18) regional tournament had the following RAE profile:

Q1 27%, Q2 27%, Q3 27%, Q4 20% which is far better than the average for U17 Super 4s (2013-2019) (Ref 1) of Q1 38%, Q2 26%, Q3 21%, Q4 15%. However it contrasts with the England U19 squad selected to play Australia this summer of Q1 56% Q2 25% Q3 13% Q4 6%.

Maturation

No recent & reliable published evidence exists of maturation bias in English cricket yet,  however the ECB are now acknowledging this is a problem and are taking steps to address it.

‘This year we have requested all counties to provide maturation data for all Bunbury players who are in contention for selection. Our science and medicine team record maturation status of all players at Bunbury and Super 4s.’ David Court

Conclusions

It is highly encouraging that growth & maturation are gaining importance within the talent pathways of English cricket. Positive steps are being taken but there is a long way to go.

‘In line with the ECB’s response to the ICEC report we are planning on developing resources and training for coaches, scouts and selectors across the country. We hope to have something designed this winter to further develop awareness of RAE and physical maturation.’ David Court

How maturation is measured remains unclear. Many counties may be using the Maturity Offset methodology that can underestimate bias as it is popular to red flag the growth spurt. The levels of bias are undisclosed. One county reports 44% of an U14 group were early maturers, almost three times the level found in the general population.

RAE remains a problem as we can see from the last England U19 squad and the levels for rookie players entering the professional cohort.

We know from sports literature that junior selection doesn’t always/often lead to senior success, especially at younger and younger age groups. Until the England Young Lions pathway fully addresses both RAE and maturation selection bias then the desire to provide development & benchmarking opportunities for ‘the (current) best’ players at 15 through to 19 will continue to favour some over others. 

Perhaps an England U19 Futures programme, similar to that benefiting Belgium football, could help later maturing and/or later born players from being lost to the system?

References

1. Kelly, A.L.; Brown, T.; Reed, R.; Côté, J.; Turnnidge, J. Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes. Sports 2022, 10, 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10030039