MOHAMMAD BOBAT – ECB PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR (MEN’S)
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE & WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?
I’ve been with the ECB since 2011 and I was appointed to the role of Performance Director in November 2019.
My role is fairly broad which is part of the fascination for me, and it is probably most simply positioned as supporting our short-term performance goals whilst also directing our medium and long-term performance strategy. This can be separated into some England-facing commitments and then leadership of our performance pathway.
My England-facing responsibilities typically involve working closely with Chris Silverwood (Head Coach), Ed Smith (National Selector) and Raph Brandon (Head of Science, Medicine and Innovation) and includes facilitating our medium and long-term performance planning, individual development planning and programming for England players and staff, alongside preparing our specialist players who aren’t currently with England because they’re preparing for a different format.
As for my pathway leadership responsibilities, that involves identifying and assessing players of the highest medium and long-term potential, which is an area of work now led by David Court. This is all about ensuring that those players are improving and more ready to play for England than they would have been otherwise; mainly through our Lions and Young Lions (Under 19) programmes and competition. This involves working closely with our counties and both Jon Lewis (Young Lions Head Coach) and Alun Powell (National Talent Manager) play important roles with that.
HOW DID YOU GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
Well, firstly it’s important to start with the fact that cricket has always been a passion of mine, ever since the 1992 World Cup; I have fond memories of watching that with my dad, who loves his cricket. He probably hoped that I would be a Pakistan supporter, but I think I’ve done a decent job of converting him to England. I also really enjoy my football and always have done; I’m an Arsenal fan for my sins. So, working in sport has been an aspiration of mine for as long as I can remember, my dreams of being a sportsman were never really underpinned by enough ability, so I’ve instead had to settle for an off the field role!
I graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a Sports Science & Management Degree and almost fell into teaching which I did for 7 years across two different colleges in Leicester. Teaching was a great grounding for me in many ways and was also a nice fit with my broader interests as I was able to spend evenings, weekends and holidays coaching cricket which I really enjoyed. I basically had dual careers running concurrently which kept me busy and was great for my development.
I’ve coached cricket since my late teens and whilst I was at university, I completed my level 1 and 2 qualifications with Nottinghamshire who then deployed me as a coach to work on community and district programmes. After university, I immersed myself in a combination of club and 1:1 coaching which was great for my learning and I also had opportunities to work on Leicestershire’s pathway with their county age groups and academy. I completed the level 3 coaching qualification when I was about 22 and in addition to coaching, spent a couple of years delivering coach development programmes for Leicestershire.
In 2011 I applied for a job with the ECB which was split into two roles – half as operations manager for the U17 squad and the other half as Regional Talent Manager for the London & East. That was a great role because it involved a range of responsibilities from coaching to programme management and I was able to learn from some fantastic operators, especially Simon Timson (currently Performance Director at the LTA and soon to be Performance Director at Manchester City FC), who has been a huge inspiration for me.
Since then my role has evolved at a fairly steady rate and in around 2014, I became manager of the England U19 programme and in 2016 I was appointed Player Identification Lead, which again was a role that has proven to be fantastic for my development. That role didn’t exist before and pretty much stemmed out of a talent PhD the ECB was running so it’s pleasing that the position is now recognized as a key element of our talent and performance pathway. Then I moved from that role to my current one late last year.
IN YOUR PREVIOUS ROLE AS PLAYER IDENTIFICATION LEAD, WHAT WERE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES?
If I go back to around 2011 when I first started with the ECB, we had a ‘talent’ PhD running which was aiming to ascertain the validity of a talent identification model in cricket. With that study in mind, we used the PhD as a catalyst for enhancing our scouting and selection processes at the U19 level. I eventually took over applying the findings of the PhD and through lots of critical thinking and substantial research into other elite environments, we were able to make iterative improvements until we settled on a bit of a formula. In 2016 when Andrew Strauss came in as Managing Director, he asked me to extend that work up the pathway to include the Lions and a year later we extended our methods further to include England selection which coincided with Straussy making changes to England selection as a new revamped approach, led by Ed Smith.
As for what it entailed, primarily leading our teams of consultant scouts operating at both Young Lions (Under 19) and England and Lions level. Our processes start through a combination of dialogue with our county directors of cricket, head coaches and academy directors and some detailed analysis. Having identified a list of players to scout, players are allocated to scouts who observe players and file reports via our digital app. We allocate players based on the principle of ‘multiple eyes and multiple times’ which was one of the key findings from our first PhD and we run periodic meetings to discuss and debate players, which in turn feeds into selection. Scouts make technical, tactical, physical, mental and social observations on players and we aim for a holistic and longitudinal approach to our player ID.
In addition to these scouting processes, we’ve also made real progress with our ID related analysis and the way we assess players when they’re on our pathway programmes. These are areas that David Court will really focus on developing further moving forward. Similarly, a key element of the role is working with counties and the broader game to enhance the sophistication of player identification and selection at their level so that we have a larger and higher quality talent pool to pick from at England level. We’ve made some progress here but still, have much to do and hopefully, in coming years we can make further improvements with things like our scouting infrastructure, digital data platforms, player ID education and also finding players from under-represented areas and communities, which I’m sure we’ll get on to.
WHAT HAS YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THE ECB’S SOUTH ASIAN ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY BEEN?
I was first asked to be involved in the project by Andrew Strauss who thought it made sense to connect me to the workstream because a key aim was to identify more South Asian players – this obviously fits well with my player ID role. At that stage, the strategy was in its early stages and the initial aim was to clarify some of the issues and make sense of the situations. A founding principle from the outset was to ensure that whatever solutions that we came up with, would be delivered through a coordinated response and to move us away from the well-intended yet ad-hoc type approach that we may have been guilty of in the past.
With that in mind, the strategy had broad aims and spanned across all elements of the game. To underpin this, a thorough consultation process was conducted by the ECB strategy team and this attempted to involve all relevant stakeholders. From my perspective, I spent time consulting with academy directors from our network of counties which helped me to understand their thoughts, concerns and ideas, as well as helping me to assess the landscape more broadly. We also collated representative data for the various levels of the pathway, from recreational participation all the way up to professional cricket. This insight served as an important rationale for the subsequent action plan. With the plan covering a multitude of areas as I mentioned, I was asked to lead the Elite Cricket and Professional Coaching element.
PUBLISHED FIGURES SUGGEST THAT 30% OF RECREATIONAL CRICKET IS PLAYED BY PEOPLE OF SOUTH ASIAN ORIGIN YET REPRESENTATION IS ONLY APPROXIMATELY 4% AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL, WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MAIN REASONS FOR THAT?
Yes, those numbers ultimately tell us that we’ve got some work to do. That said, it’s important to interrogate the numbers further and actually it can be a little misleading to just compare the two extremities.
The data told us that around 30% of recreational cricket is played by people from South Asian origin and that equivalent representation is more like 14% at the county age-group level, which is the main entry point to the talent pathway. This suggests that if there are players of high potential playing within the recreational environment, they may not be making their way into the talent pathway – this appears to be a ‘talent ID’ problem.
The next recognized level of the pathway is the county academy level and the data showed that representation was approximately 11%. This is clearly slightly lower than the 14% at the county age-group level but not too distinct, despite some attrition. Looking then at the professional level, the number drops to 4% which again represents a fairly significant drop off suggesting that players within our talent pathway with ability, are not transitioning into professionals, despite receiving support – this appears to be a ‘development and retention’ problem.
So, as you see, comparing the two extreme numbers can be misleading as it is ‘better maths’ to compare the talent pool that feeds into the level above. This paints a more accurate picture and more importantly, helps us to draw meaningful conclusions.
SO, WHAT CAN WE DO TO SOLVE THOSE CHALLENGES?
Through 2019 we made progress with some of the challenges whereas it’s fair to say that in some areas, we still have work to do.
Dealing with the ‘talent ID’ issues, we have explored the concept of a Community Talent Champion who can act as a conduit and connection between South Asian communities and the talent pathway. I feel that this is critical if we want to ensure a genuine connection. The individuals trusted with that responsibility will need to meet the needs of both the communities and the county talent pathway leads and so it’s a skilled role. We had mixed progress with this in 2019 if I’m honest but we’re hopeful that we have a better plan in place to deliver this in a targeted number of counties moving forward. Connected to the theme of ‘talent ID’, we invested a significant amount of energy into refocusing the purpose of the City Cup which I believe has had a positive impact. For the competition to be effective, it needs to target the right age group and there must be clear and obvious exit routes. The best examples were those teams where there was a strong connection between the city team and the respective county talent pathway, and this was an improvement on previous years. Mohammed Arif put a lot of effort into that competition and deserves a huge amount of credit for that.
As for the ‘development and retention’ issues, this is far more complex and requires more of an educational-type solution. We have delivered ‘Open Minds’ training to all county talent pathway coaches which covered some specific themes related to unconscious bias. Our regional talent team led by Alun Powell has also delivered a comprehensive programme of parent education sessions which I know has been well-received. There is now the opportunity for counties to take that on and evolve and enhance the process further. There are numerous key messages for players and parents that I believe can make a difference and a specific one is the approach that we have to managing education alongside cricket. We tend to find that, come a certain age or even simply during the school summer term, that players are discouraged from playing cricket in order to focus on exams. Whilst I value the intent, I believe that we’re promoting an unhealthy life-skill balance and should instead encourage young people to pursue dual interests and aspirations, even if just for their mental wellbeing. It is definitely possible to continue with both, in appropriate proportions and I say that as a former A-level teacher!
Finally, within the area of coaching and coach development, we’ve seen some positive action which is a good start to build on. The new ECB Coach Development pathway led by John Neal has helped, particularly as a key principle that he has focused on has been to make the courses and programmes more easily accessible. There’s also been a greater commitment to supporting the development of female coaches which as we know, can be a huge barrier for South Asian participation levels in the women and girls’ game. In addition to the coaching, a group of South Asian mentors have been trained and it’s important that those mentors are now deployed to support young South Asian players. This is something that we plan to connect to the Community Talent Champions process. Finally, the ECB implemented the Rooney Rule for all coaching appointments within the ECB performance pathway which have gone some way towards enhancing the rigour underpinning coaching appointments for national programmes.
So, there has been progress in a number of areas but there’s also significant work to be done in others. It will take patience and persistence if we’re going to achieve our aims and it will also take a game-wide effort across all stakeholders. For instance, I’ve personally valued the support and objective challenge that the NACC and mainly Gulfraz has provided, which is essential.
DO WE GET ENOUGH OUT OF OUR EX-PROFESSIONAL SOUTH ASIAN CRICKETERS?
It’s worth saying that for all cricketers, transitioning out of a playing career and into something new and different must be a real challenge and one that naturally can lead to a sense of fear and anxiety. It isn’t particularly normal for people to be facing retirement from the thing they’ve devoted much of their lives to, but to only be in your mid-30s. What makes it even more difficult is the fact that they inevitably face earning significantly less money too, despite having growing commitments. As the PCA tries hard to, it’s important that players get support in preparing for that transition.
Given the relatively low number of South Asian coaches, I would like to see more commitment to a career in coaching so that the young players of today can benefit from their experience as role models. I use the word commit as that what it takes – it isn’t the same as playing but having played can be a positive if channelled appropriately. Coaching is anchored to teaching and learning and developing coaches need to accept having to go ‘back to basics’ before emerging again at the sharp end. It’s similar to most things, you have to put in the hard yards and learn your craft.
We have some excellent examples of South Asian coaches doing just that which has seen positive growth in recent times; Vic Solanki, Min Patel, Ajmal Shahzad, Kadeer Ali and Jigar Naik are all in influential roles and are doing a fantastic job. Hopefully, they can inspire the next generation of South Asian players and over time, we see an increase to a point where it’s a more reflective representation.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING PLAYERS OR COACHES FROM SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITIES WHO ARE EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY AND MAYBE EVEN A CAREER IN PROFESSIONAL CRICKET?
It’s not particularly easy to provide advice on mass, as everyone’s situation and context are different, so my response will be fairly general in nature. I think the most helpful thing that I can say is to encourage them to find the thing they love doing most and to throw themselves into it because it could lead to absolutely anything. That means a real commitment and belief in what is possible – after all, someone’s got to do it, so why not you? Related to that, I think it’s important to take yourself out of your comfort zone as that’s where real learning takes place. I say that from a personal perspective as someone who has always tried to take ownership of my own path and experiences. Similarly, I think an attitude of taking responsibility for 100% of your relationships is a helpful one and is more likely to lead to success in my opinion.
From a purely player perspective, I think it’s important to embrace a mantra of continuous improvement – the best players continue to strive to get better. This means paying attention to all areas of your game and not just your main discipline. The game demands now that players work hard on their fielding, fitness and nutrition. For coaches, a mindset of taking as much learning as possible from all of your coaching interactions can be beneficial – it isn’t just the players that should be developing. There’s no substitute for time spent on a task so try and sample a range of experiences to help you adapt to different circumstances and challenges. Finally, accepting that there are no magic answers or formulas to coaching – learning is messy so embrace the chaos and stay curious!
WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL MOTIVES AND DRIVERS?
Having spent time doing some not so enjoyable jobs when I was younger, I made a promise to myself that I would try to spend as much time as possible doing the things that I enjoy most – that’s obviously taken a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I’ve had the opportunity to do some really cool and memorable things with my work but that has also meant missing out on a lot of social things in both my formative years and also now with things like time away from home and travel. Even very recently, I’ve just completed a Masters qualification which has been a huge commitment alongside an already time-intensive career. Thankfully my wife is very understanding!
I firmly believe that you can achieve anything in life if you want it enough and if you don’t achieve it, it’s probably for that exact reason, you didn’t want it enough. In those moments it’s tempting to come up with an excuse and that’s why I try not to make excuses for myself. Relative to the people around me, I’m a rarity of sorts in that I haven’t played first-class or international cricket and so that has meant working even harder and being even more curious about learning which I think has helped me along the way. I have incredibly high standards for myself and hate letting people down, so I commit wholeheartedly to everything that I do.
I also get a lot of energy from working with people and I particularly enjoy problem-solving together or even better, trying to do things that haven’t been done before. I’ve always really enjoyed team sports and activities and love working together and competing to achieve a common goal. I’m very competitive which people close to me know and probably find quite annoying! I absolutely hate losing and love the satisfaction that comes from winning but have obviously become better at appreciating the learning that can come from both.
From a very personal perspective, my faith is extremely important to me. It has played a huge part in shaping my values and has gone a long way towards making me a fairly disciplined individual – some would say boring! I believe in pure intent and so I try to choose my words and actions carefully. My faith also helps to keep me grounded and gives me much needed perspective – I try not to get too lofty with success and equally not too down with setbacks or defeat. I’m a helper by nature and so having the perspective and awareness to help those less fortunate or even those going through difficulties is something I aim to do.
WHAT PASSIONS DO YOU HAVE OUTSIDE OF YOUR WORK?
As I eluded to earlier, my work is a huge passion of mine and I don’t personally buy into the advocacy that one should “work to live”. I realize that is the preference for many, but I believe that contentment is more likely to come from the synergy between the two and I feel blessed that I spend most days doing things that I genuinely love and get excited about. Connected to that, I’m a fairly curious individual and I enjoy reading and thinking critically about common problems – understanding the world better I guess.
I also mentioned my other main sporting passion earlier which is football and in particular, Arsenal FC – I’ve been a season ticket holder for about 14 years now and a fan since 1989 when Mickey Thomas scored to win the league in the last minute at Anfield. I don’t get to go quite so often now because of work but still enjoy it when I do and I’m looking forward to seeing Arteta bring the glory days back to The Emirates!
I pretty much love all things sport and try to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. I’ve learned to appreciate the simple things in life and that’s spending time with and creating special memories with my family and close friends. My role involves a fair amount of domestic and international travel so when I get time off, it’s nice just to spend time with my wife and we like visiting new places and I really like my food, as Gulfraz knows all too well!
SO, WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE EVER ARSENAL PLAYER?
In my early teens, it was Ian Wright – I had number 8 on the back of all my Arsenal shirts and even copied his boots…which was an expensive habit. As I got a bit older it was Dennis Bergkamp – an absolute genius who did some of the most special things I’ve seen on a football pitch. I suppose I can’t not mention Thierry Henry, probably the best player we’ve ever had. All legends, so any one of them!
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